Son's Name Change in South Carolina
Hello Here's my situation: I live in S. Carolina. I have a son who is now 7 months old. I got pregnant with him by boyfriend A. When I was 2 months pregnant he punched my stomach and that in which pretty much told me that he doesn't want anything to do with this child so there has been no contact since. When I was 4 months pregnant I got with boyfriend B and from that moment on he promised me the world for my 2 older daughters and my son..that in which he called his son to everyone and wanted to sign the birth certificate. He biologically is not the father and we both knew this. Months passed after my son was born and things got worse with him than the first. His family did not approve of this child having his last name anyway considering that he has two older sons (paternity established) that do not carry his last name. We were going to be getting married and thought that it would be easier to just go ahead and let him have the last name of boyfriend B. Now that he is in jail for drugs and will not be released anytime soon I would like for my son to have my own last name so that we can move on with our lives. We all live in SC and since the closest hospital is right across the river in Georgia is where he was born...what do I do? I don't have a lot of money for all of this legal mess I have created.
Re: Son's Name Change in South Carolina
You can initiate court proceedings to dispute the acknowledgement of paternity, although you have an uphill battle:
Quote:
Quoting South Carolina Code, Section 20-7-958 - Verified voluntary acknowledgment of paternity to create finding of paternity; challenges.
(A) A verified voluntary acknowledgment of paternity creates a legal finding of paternity, subject to the right of any signatory to rescind the acknowledgment within the earlier of:
(1) sixty days; or
(2) the date of an administrative or judicial proceeding relating to the child including a proceeding to establish a support order in which the signatory is a party.
(B)
Upon the expiration of the sixty-day period provided for in subsection (A), a verified voluntary acknowledgment of paternity may be challenged in court only on the basis of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact, with the burden of proof upon the challenger.
(C) In the event of a challenge, legal responsibilities including child support obligations of any signatory arising from the acknowledgment may not be suspended during the challenge except for good cause shown.
(D) Judicial or administrative proceedings are not required or permitted to ratify an unchallenged acknowledgment of paternity.