Judge ordering last name changed

[24singlemom]

What is the name of your state?California. Just curious, if a mother gives a child her last name and the father is generally not around but wants the child to carry his last name, would a judge grant this order?

 

[bulldogg70]

Interesting enough, you would think it is not a big deal, but Judges, I feel are like hey, if you are getting a divorce you need to get it done now. Believe it or not, I had a person that had a property issue and the woman did not change back to her org. last name and the Judge went ballistic... starting talking about fraud... that fast, needless to say she changed her name and did the Quitdeed to get everything straight.

 

[ssmom]

I've been through this....

It depends on the judge. He/she may ask you why you want your child to not have his name....why yours. In turn, the father will have to give his reason for the name change. How old is your child?
Say that your last name is Smith, dad's last name is Johnson, and your child's legal name right now is-- Tommy William Smith
The judge could always hyphenate the last name: Tommy William Smith-Johnson
Or, put dad's last name as the middle name: Tommy Johnson Smith
Or, this next one would really be in your favor if you *had* to put dad's name in there: Tommy William-Johnson Smith
That would be his legal name, BUT any documents that you have to fill out (ex: school records) that ask for First, Middle, Last would drop that dad's last name off the middle....and would be Tommy William Smith (as he was named originally).

 

[stealth2]

The judge could ALSO simply change the kid's name to Thomas William Johnson.

 

[snostar]

IMO, judges tend to order a child's name changed to the father's last name inorder to prevent the child from being labeled illegitimate.

 

[cascole]

I am in CA. Although some judges do tend to hyphenate - as that has become the standard, it will all depend on the relationship & how much Dad is really involved as well as the reasons each of you have. I just went through this and in my case, our children's names did not change.

Also interesting to note - in some native american cultures the children (and husband) take the woman's last name. This BS about having dad's last name so as not to be seen as 'illegitimate' is crazy, especially in CA.

 

[snostar]

This BS about having dad's last name so as not to be seen as 'illegitimate' is crazy, especially in CA.

So tell me then what is the number one reason for judges to order a last name change to the fathers name? Be very careful of whose statements you call "crazy" and "BS" around here!

 

[casa]

Additional interesting note, in many Latina/o families the mother's last name is taken- and in california that happens quite a bit. In my case I could have hyphenated but chose to use father's last name as we were married when the child was born and that was always the child's name. I instead, hyphenated my own name- to match the childrens in order to alleviate mix ups in school etc.

 

[jslopez711]

Brings up my Question:
TEXAS
My son was born in NV. I was not present at the birth nor am I in the birth certificate (NV Law). Peternaty has been established. The boy has his mother's last name. I have been fully involved in my child's life since he was 6 months old. I followed my Son to TX. I pay my child support and see my son during all my visitation. I participate in his school activities and his dr.'s visits. I never gave it much thought because I never believed there might be the slightest chance to change my Son's last name to mine. He's going to be 5 in Dec. What are my chances to changing my son's last name or having it incorporated in any way?