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  1. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    16,474

    Default Re: Changing Last Name

    So basically, what is being said on this thread is that in NJ it is likely that a judge would agree to a back door adoption by letting the child's last name be changed to that of the new stepparent?...without an actual adoption happening? That seems very wrong to me.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    8,238

    Default Re: Changing Last Name

    Quote Quoting llworking
    View Post
    So basically, what is being said on this thread is that in NJ it is likely that a judge would agree to a back door adoption by letting the child's last name be changed to that of the new stepparent?...without an actual adoption happening? That seems very wrong to me.
    No. Adoption and a name change are two very different things, as I’m sure you know. A name change is just that, a change of name. It does NOT change the rights and obligations of either parent with respect to the child. After the name change, the parents rights and obligations are exactly as they were before the name change. The only thing different is that the child has a new name.

    Adoption is very different. In an adoption, the rights and obligations of one parent are terminated completely and the adoptive parent now assumes the rights and obligations of a parent to the child. Adoption would not occur without the consent of the other parent unless that parent’s rights were first terminated.

    But we are not talking about adoption here. Merely a name change. That’s a huge difference. There is no adoption, back door or otherwise, in a name change. The fact that the name change will match the last name of the step father rather than some other name does not make it akin to an adoption. It does not give the step-father any parental rights.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Changing A Child's Last Name to a Stepparent's When the Father Objects

    I live in tennessee, I am trying to change my child's last name to mine, I am her mother and her only provider. I was told by a lawyer I can't change her last name without her father's okay, he abandoned her 2 years ago, they've been trying to track him down for child support but haven't had any luck. He in no way supports her, contacts her, or sees her.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    3,212

    Default Re: Changing A Child's Last Name to a Stepparent's When the Father Objects

    HannahD2017, were you married to the father ? Or is the father on the child's birth certificate ?

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    19,901

    Default Re: Changing A Child's Last Name to a Stepparent's When the Father Objects

    HANNAH, you need to run your own thread. Your inappropriate tacking to other people's threads have caused confusion as to just where you and the child reside which is causing potentially incorrect answers.

    If he has been determined to be the father by either being married to you at the time or having signed an affidavit of paternity, or otherwise being listed on the birth certificate or subsequently determined to be the fater, he needs to consent (or at least be notified so he can raise objection if he wants) to the change.

    You're fortunate that Tennessee is actualy fairly lenient towards mothers in situations like this. However, that won't get you out of following the rules. You must either have the father join in the petition or serve the father notice. While the father's abanonment will enter into the decision on the name change issue, it won't let you just ignore the legal process. You're going to need a bona fide effort to locate the father to notify. If you can't, you can petition the court for an alternative method.


    On the otherhand, if there is no father of record (you were single, and the father wasn't subsequently identified), then you don't have to do that. It sounds however that since you're chasing after someone for support, that this isn't the case.

    Either way, there will need to be public notice given as well in your state.

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