I want to legally change my sons name to my future husbands last name. My sons father has been out of the picture for over 5 years, last I heard he moved out of state, got married and has 2 more children. I cant find the man any where. My question is can I just go ahead and file the paper work myself without his consent, or do I have to seak him out. I dont want to wait til I am married incase something should happen to me, I want to do this now. My sons father isnt on the birth certificate and is no where to be found. Any suggestions before I just end up taking this to a lawyer and paying a fortune.

ScottGem

I'm not sure you can do that. Your future husband would need to formally adopt the kids, they can't just assume his last name. So you have to show the courts you made a good faith effort to contact the bio father and failed before the court would grant the adoption. You should start now, trying to contact the bio father. And then file for adoption as soon as you have married.