I live in Pennsylvania. My daughter is almost 6 years old. Her biological father has not seen her since she was 12 days old but he has been paying child support for about 6 months now. I've been remarried for 4 1/2 years and my daughter has known my new husband as her father since she was 7 months old. I have a hearing coming up to have my daughter's last name changed to my husband's name (which is also my last name and we have 2 sons with the last name). Her biological father said he is going to agree to it and he wants to sign over his parental rights also. My question is, how do we go about doing that? Is there a form to fill out and if so, which office in the courthouse should I call? I've asked Children & Youth, Domestic Relations, and Custody. No one seems to know. I cannot afford a lawyer, which I know will be everyone's suggestion. I filed the petion for name change at the Prothonotary's office, would they be able to help me? Also I wanted to know, is there a hearing involved? And would it maybe be possible to have him sign over his rights while we are at the name change hearing? I know it's a lot of questions, but no one seems to be helping me, the only answer I can get from anyone is "talk to a lawyer" but that's why I keep going to these message boards. If I was able to talk to a lawyer I would have done that in the first place! Lol. Please help! -Kaeleesha

You can't just petition for a name change here. The Bio father will have to relinquish his rights and your husband will have to adopt her. Doing so will probably free the bio father from having to pay child support.

Your local family court will tell you what forms need to be filled out. There will probably need to be a hearing where the judge makes sure that everyone is agreed then signs the orders. But it should be able to be handled at one hearing.

Does it cost anything and how complicated would it be to have her step father adopt?

I have no idea of the cost. It would be best to consult an attorney to make sure its done right. They can give you an idea of the cost.