My husband wants to change legally the last name of my child, who has her bio's last name on birth cert. we've been together for 11 years, but married only 8, her real father is an illegal immigrant, which abandoned my when I was pregnant, I spoke to him a couple of times, to get him involved but he had no interest, he said he will sign papers to give up his parental rights, and give my current husband the right to change my daughters last name. He has never paid child support or never given me no type of income, wasn't present at time of birth or ever in her life. But many people tell me that we can change her last name, and some tell me that he has to adopt her? is there a difference?, Would you please give me your advise on the following? one- is it adoption or last name change? can we do this ourselfes, without an attorney? in the state of california how long does this process take for either or? if there is a difference. My husband has been with me since she was 6 mos old. I am very confused.

