Reply to Father wants me (single/unwed) to change child's last name...Can he ? Will the court grant?

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Reply to "Father wants me (single/unwed) to change child's last name...Can he ? Will the court grant?"

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[quote=Anonymous]There is no way a court would grant a last name change from that of the mother to that of the father over the objection of the mother, absent some showing that having the mother's name was not in the "best interests" of the child.  (Maybe the Mom's name is Hitler, maybe the mom has been abusive and keeping the name is perpetuated a trauma, etc.)

Worst case scenario for you would be that the court orders some kind of hyphenated last name with both father and mother's last names.

Think of the sexism in it -- choosing the male over female last name implies that having the male's name, even if he didn't initially acknowledge parenthood and didn't live with the child, is better/more important than having the female's name.

Even if a lower court granted it, there is no way it would hold up on appeal.

It is the kind of default male preference that Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent her life fighting.  She would love to take your case at the SC and any women's rights organization would love to fight it for free for you!

Just tell him no, and let him do whatever..... worst case scenario is that he files and you have to defend in court.  If it gets that far you could probably mediate out a hyphenated last name, or you could choose to fight.

Honestly, I wouldn't give in on this.  The kind of control your ex is trying to exert is creepy.  You weren't married when the kid was born, he didn't acknowledge paternity at the time of birth, so he lost the opportunity to influence the name.  Unless you  were keeping some kind of secret about the baby, your ex has to live with the natural consequences of his actions.  [/quote]

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