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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    3

    Default Minor's Name Change

    Hello. Thank you for taking your time to read and possibly respond.

    I married a woman almost 8 years ago who had 2 children, ages 1 year and 4 years. The biological father lives in Houston and has very minimal contact, due to his own accord (has seen them once in 3 years). He is over $10,000 in arears. For the past year, the younger child (now a 9 year old girl) has wanted to change her birth last name to mine. She says she feels like an outsider and wants the last name of her mother, father, and her sister. She gets very upset when she talks about it. The problems lies in the fact that we cannot locate the bio father. As such, the courts have tried to serve him papers to bring him back to our area to "talk" about the child support issues, but they cannot locate him so we have no way of even asking about adoption, much less a name change.

    I would really like to fulfill the wishes of my daughter. The question is: Can I do it without the bio father permission? What steps do I need to take?

    Thank you for your time!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    28,906

    Default Re: Minor's name change

    What state do you and the children live in? What state issued the custody and support orders?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Minor's name change

    I am sorry. Texas is where we reside and Texas is the state that is handling child support. The Texas Attorney Generals Office had repeatedly tried to locate bio father to serve him papers to make a court appearance, but so far, my wife and I are the only ones show up, then we wait for hours and he is a no show. After we waited so long, they tell us they cant serve him because they cant find him. This has happened three times in the past 2 years.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    28,906

    Default Re: Minor's name change

    Pursuant to Section 161.005 of the Texas Family Code, a parent may initiate an action to terminate the other parent's parental rights. Grounds for termination are listed in Section 161.001. You can read those statutes here (PDF Format). The odds of an involuntary termination occurring are usually highest in the context of a petition for step-parent adoption. If the father cannot be located, you can petition the court to permit "substituted service", but it's a good idea to try to achieve actual service.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Minor's name change

    Thank you. Thats the kind of help I was looking for. Thank you again!

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