I am a single mother and have been since my son was 6 weeks old. I was unmarried to his father and things went from good to bad over night. To make a long story short, his father has supervised visitation due to some abuse that had happened. Thank god I was smart and got the baby medical attention and now have my child away from this horrible being. Anyway I have full physical custody and we have joint-custody and he has not excerised any of his rights nor has he tried to make any contact with my son in the last 3.5 years. No birthdays, holidays, child support or visitation has been received. Now that my son is in preschool he has his fathers surname but tells everyone he has mine, which is not listed legally on his birth certificate. I have no current location on his father or the family members nor has any of his family members made any attempts to visit the baby. He will 4years old and I can count on one had how many times he has seen by this family. Also his father was ordered by the court to complete anger management and counseling and he did not complete either of them. My question is can I change his surname to mine? I want to do it before he is in elementary school to avoid any embarrassment and confusion. He has no clue who or what his father is. His dad has chosen to be a dead-beat and I think it is in the best interest of my son to take my name for I am the one that has and always will be there for him. Also does anyone know if he would have to be served papers if I wanted to change his name, I have no current information on him? I just keep thinking well if he did show up on a court date, he would have no ground to stand on or anything to fight the battle. He's a dead beat who wouldn't even recognize his own son on the streets.:confused:

Here in canada, you would go to the government website. They have forms you could fill out online or print up. Or you could pick them up at the local offices to fill out. There are special forms to fill out to have a name change to the birth certificate and there would probably be a fee for the name change.

I would think it would be similar else where.

Joe

Check with the agency that manages birth certificates for your county or municipality. But I would suspect this would require a court order. However, there is no law that says he cannot go by your surname in school or anywhere else as long as there is no intent to defraud. When you register him for school use your surname. If anyone questions it explain it the same way you have here.

Hello foxy:

It certainly may take a court order. But, just because you don't know where the dead beat is, doesn't mean you can't get a court order - not at all.

Or, as Scott suggests, unofficially change his name, and when he's 18, he can do it himself WITHOUT permission from anybody.

excon

Thanks to all of you for your reply! I think I'm going to call the local court and consult an attorney about this matter... worse case is he will show up in court, and disagree about my reasonings but what can he say? He has done nothing positive in his son's life so really has no legit reason to argue.

Umm, doesn't work that way. Whether he has a moral or ethical right to contest the name change, doesn't bear on his legal right. And that's all a judge can look at. But please do consult an attorney. That way you get the best advice.