Dropping daughter's hyphenated name
We live in Maine and my daughter is almost 13 now. Her father and I were never married and his name is on her birth certificate. Her last name is hyphenated with my last name and then his. He abandoned her for 5 years. When I took him to court over it he fought for visitation again. (He has court ordered supervised visits now and has never requested a visit in 5 years) He won the chance to see her again in a therapeutic setting with his counselor and her counselor and myself. He was court odered to attend MensWork and to finish the entire program. He went 5 times just to get that visit with his daughter. He saw her 7 times and blew her off on her birthday at his house and made her very upset not to mention angry. She has refused to speak to him and he has not even attempted contact again now for 1 1/2 years. My question is this: She no longer even wants to have his last name. She does not consider him her father and she refers to him as the "sperm donor". :wallbang: Can she do this legally on her own and drop the last name off her hyphenated name or do I have to do it and do we need his permission to do so. Please help us to know what our options with this problem are! Thank you so much and this is truly a wonderful service and site that you offer!
Re: Dropping daughter's hyphenated name
The procedure appears to be outlined here:
Quote:
Quoting Who may petition for a minor's name change?
The legal custodian of the minor must petition in the county where the minor resides.
Physical custody alone does not give one the status of legal custodian.
Legal custody of minor children after divorce is determined by ascertaining from the divorce judgment which person has the decision-making responsibilities.
When there are shared parental rights and responsibilities, determined by a court order, one parent alone could not be deemed legal custodian. Hence, both parents would have to agree to a change of name for the minor.
Similarly, if there has been no court determination as to parental rights and responsibilities but both parents are alive, the parents would have to agree to a name change in order for the Probate Court to act. As an alternative, one parent could seek a
parental rights determination from the District Court, requesting exclusive authority to change the name of the child. Once a parent has been allocated the authority, he or she may petition the Probate Court.
Re: Dropping daughter's hyphenated name
I was afraid of that.....Thank you very much Mr.Knowitall! Is there a certain age my daughter would be allowed to make that decision for herself before she is 18?