[Dubbs330]

I have a 2 year old son with a crazy woman. I want my last name hyphenated with hers. She's fighting me on it. Is there anything I can do to go around her and get this done legally? All info would be appriciated.

[stevetcg]

Nope. Sorry.

Although you can call the child anything you choose as long as you are not trying to defraud.

[Fr_Chuck]

Sorry, no, you can not force her to accept a name change for the child.

You can of course fight for it, in the child custody agreement, offer payments if she would and so on.

What sort of chid custody agreement do you have in place. Do you have state ordered child
Support in pace

And there is so much more important things than a name, do you visit all the time, are you getting the child at your home, are you providing for the child, being a father is what is important

[GV70]

In my view neither Steve nor Fr Chuck are absolutely right here... You have right to file in a court for hyphenated name and probably you will get what you want...

[stevetcg]

In my view neither Steve nor Fr Chuck are absolutely right here...You have right to file in a court for hyphenated name and probably you will get what you want...

Based on what do you make this statement?

[GV70]

Based on what do you make this statement?

Court practice.:)
When the child is born, the parents may disagree about what surname should appear on the birth certificate. Many states have statutes with explicit instructions for resolving such disagreements.

In Florida, for example, a child whose mother and father both have custody but cannot agree on a surname will be given both, hyphenated, with the names appearing in alphabetical order. Other states provide that a court must decide, based on the best interests of the child, what surname should be entered on the birth certificate in the case of parental disagreement.
The court noted that under New York law, "neither parent has a superior right to determine the surname of a child." /Te-Sha Marshall case/
He Arkansas Supreme Court recently adopted six such factors. The first is the child's own preference. The second is the potential effect of the name change on the child's relationship to either parent. The third is the length of time the child has used a particular name. The fourth is the reputation or meaning associated with a particular name. The fifth is the difficulty the child may face as a result of either keeping the existing name or adopting the proposed one. The sixth, and last, is whether there has been parental misconduct or neglect.

[GV70]

[QUOTE=stevetcg;1550032]stevetcg agrees: Greenie for the citations. Ive always read it is the best interest of the child and have yet to see a solid argument where changing a name is in the best interest of anyone.[QUOTE]

Let's see a hypothetical situation here:
A father has Muslim faith or he has a sort of patriarchal descent or thinking/it is presumed that a child has to bear his/her father's last name in many countries and nations/.In such case it is very possible the child not to be considered as a member of father's family if he/she does not bear the father's last name.The goal of court is to preserve the parent-child relationship and in this way the court will change child's last name./Best interest standard/
Other argument for allowing claims for child hyphenated last name is the fact that the child belongs both to the mother and father and it is not in child's interest to have one parent out , etc... I can give you a lot of examples and Court reasons...

[stevetcg]

I can give you a lot of examples and Court reasons...............

Sure - but can you give enough to justify using the word "probably" as an outcome? ;)

[GV70]

It was better this question to be asked by the OP.

There is no black or white answer to this question.In general, judges are very fond of hyphenated last names, because it's a valid compromise.
Ronan v. Adely, 182 N.J. 103 (2003).The parties were never married. The mother assumed most, if not all, of the childcare responsibilities. After difficulties arose, the mother filed a motion to change the child's surname such that the mother's name would be included in a hyphenated manner with the father's surname.

In summary, the Ronan case is very illustrative as to how family courts are addressing emotionally charged applications to change the surname of a child. The family courts are encouraging the parties to give the child both surnames in a hyphenated manner. The local county courts strongly believe that it is in the child best interests to have both parents surname.


....And that has been since 2003 in more than 100 cases there.


A family court should always try to fashion any of their rulings to reduce any hostility and bitterness between any parents. It is important to emphasize to any mothers who are trying to change the surnames of their child, that an unhappy father who feels "dissed" is more likely to be a "deadbeat" dad. Consequently, a vindictive mother may encounter severe child support collection problems if she is ultimately successful in changing the surname of the child. Therefore, changing the surname of a child can very well be a "Pyrrhic" victory. The child's quality of life will certainly suffer if a mother's ability to collect child support is hindered.


I have such examples from all states.

[stevetcg]

Thanks for the background - I'll certainly keep it in mind when responding to similar questions in the future