Name Change of a Child

[sharon99]

What is the name of your state?New york.

I currently live in New York. My daughter was born in PA and her father lives in PA. I want to change her last name, he is on her birth certificate and she currently has his last name. He has not seen her or tried to see her in over 4 years. She is now 5 years old. Can I do this simply? and could someone please point me in the right direction. Thank You

Sharon

 

[Gracie3787]

What is the name of your state?New york.

I currently live in New York. My daughter was born in PA and her father lives in PA. I want to change her last name, he is on her birth certificate and she currently has his last name. He has not seen her or tried to see her in over 4 years. She is now 5 years old. Can I do this simply? and could someone please point me in the right direction. Thank You

Sharon

The first thing you should do is to talk to her Father to see if he will give his permission, then:

Go to your local courthouse and ask the clerk for a change of name petition (alot of places have a packet of forms ready).Fill those out and have them served on the Father.
Hopefully, it will be very simple, it depends on if the Father gives permission or not.

 

[sharon99]

The first thing you should do is to talk to her Father to see if he will give his permission, then:

Go to your local courthouse and ask the clerk for a change of name petition (alot of places have a packet of forms ready).Fill those out and have them served on the Father.
Hopefully, it will be very simple, it depends on if the Father gives permission or not.

unfortunately, I have no idea how to get in touch with him, no address no phone number. I was hoping that since he hasn't had any contact with her in so long that maybe it would be considered abadonment and maybe I could just bypass his say in it. I don't think he would have a problem with me changing her name, but again I don't even know how to get a hold of him. I'm pretty sure he still lives in Pittsburgh but that's about it. I think I would physically have to go down there and just hang out at all the places I think he would to find him.

Is there any way to just be able to change her name without him??

Thanks

 

[Wolflmg]

Get a court order, for a petention to change the name, if you can get in contact with him, the court will try and if a certain ammount of times passes and they haven't been able to get in contact with him. Then the court may allow for the name to be changed, otherwise you would need his concent.

Are you able to get in contact with any of his friends or relative that may know where he is?

 

[Gracie3787]

unfortunately, I have no idea how to get in touch with him, no address no phone number. I was hoping that since he hasn't had any contact with her in so long that maybe it would be considered abadonment and maybe I could just bypass his say in it. I don't think he would have a problem with me changing her name, but again I don't even know how to get a hold of him. I'm pretty sure he still lives in Pittsburgh but that's about it. I think I would physically have to go down there and just hang out at all the places I think he would to find him.

Is there any way to just be able to change her name without him??

Thanks

You should consult with an attorney to find out what the laws are in your state concerning abandonment and how to go about having the father's rights taken by the court. This is the ONLY way to change the name WITHOUT the father's consent.

 

[sharon99]

Get a court order, for a petention to change the name, if you can get in contact with him, the court will try and if a certain ammount of times passes and they haven't been able to get in contact with him. Then the court may allow for the name to be changed, otherwise you would need his concent.

Are you able to get in contact with any of his friends or relative that may know where he is?

I don't know where any of his friends live or there last names.. it would be pretty hard to try and find them my first name only. And as far as relatives go he's not a family type person.. I found that out After we had the baby. They don't know where he is either.

Sharon

 

[sharon99]

You should consult with an attorney to find out what the laws are in your state concerning abandonment and how to go about having the father's rights taken by the court. This is the ONLY way to change the name WITHOUT the father's consent.

If i have the fathers rights taken away by the court, would he still have to pay child support? I need to file for that as well.

Sharon

 

[Gracie3787]

If i have the fathers rights taken away by the court, would he still have to pay child support? I need to file for that as well.

Sharon

I was referring to THE COURT (not you) taking away his parental rights due to abandonment. When a court does that, ALL rights AND RESPONSIBILITIES are taken from the former parent. I used the word former because at the time a Judge signs that order, that person ceases being a parent to the child.

It MAY be possible to get retroactive CS from the date of filing to the date of order taking away rights, but that is the most you can get.

You want to have your cake and eat it too, you cannot say on one hand that the Father shouldn't have a say in the name change, and on the other hand expect that father to pay CS. Neither the laws nor the court allows for that.

 

[withonel]

Not always true

Admittedly my case was handled in CA, not NY.
My son's bio father and I divorced when my son was 11 mo old, bio father had drug issues and contact was lost for years. 12 yrs later I contacted the county child support services to see about getting my original order enforced, all these years no support had been received because I never knew where he was. It took almost a year but they did find him and I began receiving $65 every 2 weeks (not much but it's the principal). All this time I had kept bio grandparents aware of our location, but there was no interest from them (or their son) to maintain a relationship. Fast forward to now, my son is 16, and he's been using his stepdad's last name informally for many years, but now he wants to drive and work so I began working on changing the name legally. I contacted bio dad's parents by mail, tried to find address for bio dad using voter registration and county recorders office, without success. I completed a form and filed it with the court explaining the steps I'd taken to find him and that I couldn't locate him, the court allowed a publication notice and after about 6 mo the name change was complete.
So you can get child support and a name change and not know where the father is, it just takes time. I was able to find all this information on the court website for my area.

 

[Gracie3787]

Admittedly my case was handled in CA, not NY.
My son's bio father and I divorced when my son was 11 mo old, bio father had drug issues and contact was lost for years. 12 yrs later I contacted the county child support services to see about getting my original order enforced, all these years no support had been received because I never knew where he was. It took almost a year but they did find him and I began receiving $65 every 2 weeks (not much but it's the principal). All this time I had kept bio grandparents aware of our location, but there was no interest from them (or their son) to maintain a relationship. Fast forward to now, my son is 16, and he's been using his stepdad's last name informally for many years, but now he wants to drive and work so I began working on changing the name legally. I contacted bio dad's parents by mail, tried to find address for bio dad using voter registration and county recorders office, without success. I completed a form and filed it with the court explaining the steps I'd taken to find him and that I couldn't locate him, the court allowed a publication notice and after about 6 mo the name change was complete.
So you can get child support and a name change and not know where the father is, it just takes time. I was able to find all this information on the court website for my area.

I don't know what California laws are, however, there is something about your situation that puzzles me:

Am I correct in understanding that a court allowed the name change based on your attempts to locate Dad and inability to do so?

Am I correct in understanding that ex is, or was, at the time of the name change, paying CS?

If I am correct on those 2 points, I have to wonder if you had informed the Judge (who allowed the name change) of the Father's payment of CS.
Basically, if a NCP is paying support, whether it is in cash, MO, thru court, thru state, etc., the payments are sent from somewhere, and therefore it is another avenue in which to find the Father.
I'm just really curious about how a court could allow a name change, while NCP is still paying support, and without his knowledge.

 

[withonel]

The minor name change was allowed with the consent of one parent because service was made by publication.
Child support services had only a PO Box for the father, this information was included in the petition, however the court would not allow service to a PO box, a letter was written to the paternal grandparents informing them of the petition for a name change, other avenues taken were a search of voter registration, county recorders office, telephone book, all yielded no results for 'dad'.
So yes the child support services dept was an avenue that was explored, yet no serviceable address was obtained from them. Thus the court being aware of the results of all efforts made allowed service by publication. In this particular case the notice was published for 8 weeks instead of the normally required 4 weeks because the newspaper originally printed the wrong court date, they printed the correction at no charge but it meant a continuation of the original court date and more opportunity for "dad" to contest the name change. No response was filed, the court determined that the petition was reasonable and so ordered the name change.

 

[withonel]

Gracie3787

The minor name change was allowed with the consent of one parent because service was made by publication.
Child support services had only a PO Box for the father, this information was included in the petition, however the court would not allow service to a PO box, a letter was written to the paternal grandparents informing them of the petition for a name change, other avenues taken were a search of voter registration, county recorders office, telephone book, all yielded no results for 'dad'.
So, yes, child support services was an avenue that was explored, yet no serviceable address was obtained from them. Believe it or not, just because payments are being made to them, they are not able to disclose the whereabouts of the father to the mother. The original petition asks for the absent parent's address, I included the PO Box I had from my copy of the support order, the court would not allow me to serve the father using the po box address. If the non-consenting parent lives in Calif the service must be made in person, only non-consenting parents living outside Calif can be served by mail. Thus the court being aware of the results of all efforts made allowed service by publication. In this particular case the notice was published for 8 weeks instead of the normally required 4 weeks because the newspaper originally printed the wrong court date, they printed the correction at no charge but it meant a continuation of the original court date and more opportunity for "dad" to contest the name change. No response was filed, the court determined that the petition was reasonable and so ordered the name change.