I want to change my sons name from his fathers surname to mine, my son is now 4 and me and his father split when my son was 4 months old. In the last 4 years my ex has had very little contact with my son although he pays child support through the CSA. In February of this year he walked away from his son for good and telling my mother that he would give concent for me to change his name to mine, but now he has changed his mind even though he still doesn't want to see his son he now won't give me the concent I need to change his name. Can some one please tell me if I can change his name without his concent now that he has nothing to do with my sons life

What state are you in? I really don't know of any states that will grant the change with out the father also in agreement. By paying support he makes sure that he is still legally involved even if he hasn't had contatct for a while.

You can use any name you want as long as there is no intent to defraud. So, for example, you can enroll him in school under your name and explain to the school why. You will still have to use his legal name on some things. But he can sign his name using yours.

To legally change his name would require the fatrher's consent.