Can I change my daughter’s last name to her father’s without a paternity test?
Long story.. I dont know who my daughter's real father is, I have been with my now husband since she was very young (8 months old), He wants to sign her birth certificate amd change her last name to his. But since he is not biologically the father, can we lie and say he is so we can change everything or will they do a paternity test? He really wants her to be his, and he is all she knows. How can I do this without causing a big commotion in her life?
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if there is no father on the cert, your husband can claim he is the biological father and sign the cert. no testing will be needed unless another man steps forward and claims paternity before this gets finalized. then you will have a pay a fine (counties differ) to do a name change.
adoptions are expensive, and take a long time. even a simple adoption would run about $1500. just having your husband claim paternity IS NOT ILLEGAL, as long as noone else does.
just go to the court house and fill out the paperwork. your fees will be small. i dont think more than $300.
There is an easier way to go about this. Have you been married longer than 1 year? If so, your husband can adopt her. It’s a pretty simple process for a spouse to adopt.
His name will be added to the birth certificate and her last name can be changed.
Go to your local family court house to get more information.
No need to lie just file for him to adopt her, that way he is the father and no lie that the child need learn about later.
the consequences for our actions, that sounds like it’d be illegal. if shes 8 she wont remember you’d better get that test sooner then later.
No. It’s called an illegal adoption. Get a lawyer to file for a step-parent adoption.
In my state when the child is born you can give him/her any last name you want. After you receive the birth certificate though I think it gets a little more involved. You have to petition the courts for adoption or name change.
i actually just saw something about this while watching a court show and the judge said that it’s illegal because it’s considered fraud. it’s better to just go through the formal (and legal) process of an adoption. If you’re unsure of who the father is, i don’t think that needing the father’s permission will come into question, but i’m not sure about that, cause what if it were a case of rape and you didn’t know their name, etc.
so you should be fine. but just make sure everything is done legitimately and legally so that nothing bites you in the butt later, good luck!!