I have an 8 year old son. I married 2 years ago and would like to add the step fathers last name to my son's last name. The bio father is not around often and has never paid child support. I just want my son to have the same last name as the rest of the family. How do I go about Hyphenating my son's name? If I got the bio father's permission, where do I go from there? I live in California by the way.

It should be a relatively easy process to change your child's name in California.

The link below will give you details.

Changing Your Name in California (http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/catId/211754E8-4167-4E64-9EABA23C9510DE4F/objectId/BD552D1E-BFCE-46B2-AF3629FAA3AEBACA/118/121/ART/)

It is very likely that you will either need to get the natural fathers written permission for the name change to take place. If you cannot get this it will be necessary to argue in front of a Judge as to why you want the child's name changed.

I hope this helps and I wish the best of luck.

Poseidon