I live in Michigan. My son's father moved to Califronia a few months after he was born in Feb. 2005. He's seen him a total of about 10 days since and, although he pays $400 month a month for child care, he does little else.
I gave my son his father's name when he was born because we were engaged at the time. Since he has done little to be a part of his son's life and we are no longer together, I now feel as though he should have my last name. I asked the bio father if he'd consent to that change he said that he wouldn't put up a fight in court about it, but he wouldn't give the consent needed to make the change go smoothly.
Ive done a lot of reseach and most everything that i've read says that if the non-custodial parent doesn't give consent to a legal name change, I have to prove that the name change is in the best interest of the child in a court hearing. I want to go into the hearing with solid support for my actions. I'm just wondering what are some examples of a name change being "in the best interest of the child"? What are some valid reasons for changing a child's name?
Should I wait to be married to go through with this change? I plan to be in the next year. Would changing my son's name to my new married name be a more convincing arguement?

