My son is now 7 months old and his father abandoned us right before christmas I was wondering I need to change his last name back to mine and not his looser fathers do I need a lawer to do that because he will not sign the papers or can I do it by myself

Hello hurt:

If it was me, I'd only be going to court for one thing, and that is to make this dead beat pay child support. Yes, you need a lawyer. Yes, he'll pay for it.

Your sons name? Take care of feeding and clothing him now. You can always change his name later.

excon

You can use any name you want as long as there is no intention to use fraud. If you want to officially change the birth certificate you will need to go to court to do it. But if you want to use your last name when you register him for school etc, feel free to do so.

Yes I would say first matters first, get a child custody order in place with the court, get a child support order in place.
Those are the two most important issues at this time.

The rules of merely changing a last name differs from state to state, but you will have to have been awarded full sole custody by family court to do it without the fathers permission ( and that can vary by state also)