I have been married to my husand for 11 years, and we have 2 children, my daughter is 14 and my son is 9. My husband has been with my daughter since 2 and she has no idea that he is not her biological father, he is my son's biological father. All her records Doctor, school, etc. show her last name as my husbands but her birth certificate and SS card show her bio's last name. How can we get her name changed. Bio can't be found and we don't want to hurt our daughter by telling her this late. Please help

CAK10

LadyB

You will need an attorney to file a petition for stepparent adoption, and will have to document any attempts at finding the bio-father to notify him of proceedings. Usually putting an ad in the paper and sending a certified letter to the last known address is enough. If he doesn't come forward within a certain amount of time, his rights can be severed by the judge and your adoption petition then processed.

I think it's unfortunate you didn't tell your daughter the truth, as it usually comes out sometime, somehow and she might feel betrayed. I would suggest you be honest with her and discuss it ASAP, and explain your reasons from keeping it from her.