[l.mariacoleman]

I am a single mother of two wonderful boys. I have never been married and I want my boys to carry on my families name. Their father isn't apart of their lives and have not been for several years. I reside in jacksonville, Florida.

[Eileen G]

In general, you can change a name without having to do anything special, just inform everyone of the new name and make sure it is on all documentation. You can do a formal name change by deed poll, but it's not necessary.

The classic example is a woman getting married. There is no legal mechanism that changes her name to her husband's, it's just custom for her to change her surname. If she does not tell her bank, gas company and local library of her new name, she will continue to be known by her old one.

I was very surprised recently when my 13 year old daughter informed me that she had double-barrelled her name, and was now registered in her school, library and doctor's surgery with her new name.

[ScottGem]

This is a legal question and has been moved to the correct forum. Please exercise more care in choosing the forum to post in in the future. The inaccuracy of your first response is one example why you should post in the proper forum.

To change the names of your children you will need to go to court. And you will need to get the father's permission or, at least, show a good faith effort to obtain that permission.

However, your children can go by any name they want as long as there is no intent to defraud. So they can use your name except where a legal name is required. When they are 18 they can apply for a change of their legal name and won't need anyone else's opinion.