[kristy h]

My 2year-old has his biological fathers last name and I want to change it before I get married mid this year and his biological father won't sign the change of name papers (nsw) what can I do?

[southerngal77]

If he refuses to sign the name change papers I don't believe there is anything that you can do. Could be wrong, states have different laws, I have a friend from Florida whose mother changed his last name from the one of his biological dad to her previous married surname but she had to go to court to do it and don't know how. But why would you want to change his name? I know in many states in order to change the name of your child you must provide a good reason for doing so. This could also come back to haunt you when the child gets older, my friend still resents his mother for changing his surname to suit her own agenda. Just saying...

[stinawords]

If the father does not agree to it then the name will be left alone. Would you want the father to be able to change the name with out you being in agreement? I don't think so which is why both parents have to sign the papers and go to court to have it officially done. Of course you can call the child anything you want as long as you use the legal name on legal things i.e. school records, medication, doctors office, and so on.

[cdad]

If he absolutely refuses you can still take him to court over it. The problem is at best you might end up with a hyphenated name.