I would like to change my daughters last name to my maiden name. Her biological father and I were never married shortly after she was born he was sent to prison for 20 years. That was almost 15 years ago neither my daughter nor myself has had any contact with him since the day he was arrested nor do I want to. It hurts both of us to have to look at his last name.

The father of my child is doing life in prison however he is on her birth certificate so she now has to use his last name how do I fix this ?

Just because he's on the birth cert doesn't mean the child has to have his surname. You can use yours without any problem.

A person can use any name they want as long as there is no intent to defraud. However, certain groups, like schools will require a legal name for registration at least. So while teachers can be instructed to address her as Jane Doe, the school's records will show her as Jane Smith.

If you want her name changed, you have to go to Family Court and apply for a legal name change. With the father in jail, this may not be difficult to get a court to approve.

Is your ex or has he been declared the legal father of the child? If so then you may have to seek permission from him for a name change. 15 years is a very long time to have waited and school records as well as health records have been established.

Its not impossible to do but it may take some doing to get it done.

Not that it directly makes any difference as far as your question is concerned, but why did you first say that the father was sentenced to 20 years and then that he was sentenced to life imprisonment?

The exact requirements, including what sort of notice of a name-change application you must give to her father, are going to depend on the law of whatever state or country it is in which you and your daughter reside.

Not that it directly makes any difference as far as your question is concerned, but why did you first say that the father was sentenced to 20 years and then that he was sentenced to life inprisonment?

The exact requirements, including what sort of notice of a name-change application you must give to her father, are going to depend on the law of whatever state or country it is in which you and your daugher reside.

Sidebar(The OP made 2 posts. They have been merged.)

I answered the second question, didn't see the first question. Waiting 15 years could make a difference. If the name bothered you so much why wait so long?