[steelerfan1996]

My child's biological father hasn't been in his/her life since 2 months. Old. My child is 14 now. My husband has been in my child's life for the past 12 years. The biological father hasn't seen or talked to my child since the age of 2 months old. The thing is he does pay child support. He was in arrears of 10,000 up until a couple months ago. He has recently caught up his child support order. I want to know how hard it will be to have my husband adopt him and give him his last name? How much will it cost? The route I should take? I don't have a very good address to try and ask him. I don't know if there is a way around him to get this to go forth. He is the only child without, the daddy he knows', last name. How old before the child can decide who he can have as a last name?

[Synnen]

You MUST have the biological father's permission to change your child's name. You ALSO must try to get him to relinquish his parental rights to clear the way for your husband to adopt.

How old must your child be before he can choose? 18.

Talk to a family lawyer. They can give you an idea of the expenses involved, the process you need to do, and what the biological father's rights are in this case. Each state is different, so it's better to get the advice of a local attorney on this.

[Fr_Chuck]

Yes the biofather is going to have to agree, now if he knows he wll not have to pay child support for the next 4 plus years he may be glad to, but it is hard to tell. My guess on cost 3 to 5 thousand but you can shop around for an attorney