I want to change my son's last name to mine. The father is not in the picture or has never been & not even on the birth certificate. Can I do this without his permission?

Yes

The correct answer is maybe. A birth certificate is a legal document. A person's legal name cannot be changed except by court order. A court is likely to require the approval of both parents (ANY question on law needs to include your general locale as laws vary by area.) or, at least, a good faith effort to obtain the father's permission.

What constitutes a good faith effort will vary by area. But if the father is not around, it could become expensive to try.

On the other hand, a person can use any name they want as long as there is no attempt to defraud. So, for example, you can ask your child's school to use your name except where a legal name is required.

When your child is 18 he can apply for a name change without needing parental consent.

Aside to justwondering11. Since you are new here, I'll cut you some slack. When answering legal questions you need to deal with actual law. We pride ourselves on the accuracy of the advice we give out here and your answer was misleading and, therefore, not really helpful.

ScottGem- first, cut me slack ?
I didn't mean to answer this question, my phone froze when I was trying to answer to another thing . Secondly , I'll apologize only to the person I accidentally answered this question to.