My question involves name change laws in the State of: California
I am an adult petitioning to change my last and middle name in California. My reason is because I don't like my middle name (it is embarrassing) and I want to have my father's surname instead of my mother's. The reason I have my mother's surname is because she didn't allow my father to fill out his portion of my birth certificate. To make a long story short they didn't like each other and my mother thought that if she didn't list my father then she could reap the benefits of welfare (which she did). However, my father has always been an active part of my life and has been there for me since I was a baby. My mother purposefully cheated him out of his right to be my legal father so she could collect welfare and public housing.
My questions is, if I go to court to petition my new name and give them the reason to change my last name to my father's surname and they see that I don't have a father listed on my birth certificate, will they ask for proof (paternity) that this man is my father or will they grant me the name change decree anyway because I am an adult without a criminal background and unlawful reasoning?
In the scenario where they ask me to provide proof, how would I do that? My biological father lives in an entirely different state and right now it is not financially possible for us to get together and try to notarize a document.
(Also I was born out of state, just adding this detail in case it aids in anyway)

