I’m a first time mom and my daughter is 16 months old. Me and her father weren’t together when she was born nor when I was pregnant. She has the last name of the guy I was dating at the time she was born because he was all for her having his last name, being her father, etc. Turns out he was abusive and lied all the time. I ended up leaving him and now he doesn’t see her, ask about her, anything and hasn’t since March of this year. Is there any way I can get her last name changed? How do I go about it? He did sign the papers at the hospital, but we don’t have her birth certificate due to him refusing to give me the paperwork to send off for it. I just need to know where to begin to get her last name changed please.
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Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. I wrote in a non bio father on my kids birth certificate and need to change it - Mamas Uncut
Go to a lawyer. They will be able to help you. Probably need a paternity test too
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Yikes… probably should have given her your last name. 
You’ll have to go through the court and get paternity tested, then the bio dad will probably have to be involved with it as well.
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First, you’ll have to actually see if there is a birth certificate for her. If there is, you’ll have to make this gentleman do a DNA test to prove he isn’t the father. Cause as of now, of he is on it, he is “legally” her father and has every right to her than her bio dad. Meaning, he could get custody of he wanted.
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In general, anyone can legally change their name for any reason except to commit fraud or evade the law. To make it official, you’ll need a court order legally changing your name. The procedure for getting that order depends on the state and county where you live—and the cost will range from $150 to $436.
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So he signed her birth certificate but he’s not her bio dad? Ya lawyer and paternity tests for all.
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Depol papers where can legally change them online xx
Call up the redgistery office and say you need a copy we did this when we lost ours but not sure what area you live in
If you never turned in the forms to have him be the father, then you only have to change her last name. But first get a copy of the birth certificate from vital statistics in the state she was born in. Then you’ll see what will have to be the next step. Might be very simple depending on what is on her birth certificate
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WOW regardless if the real dad left you should have never let a man that wasnt the dad sign you where not having your childs best interest at heart thinking only of how your heart was hurt just crazy instead of asking facebook get a lawyer and prayer
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I feel like if the original hospital papers were never lodged then you should be able to lodge them now with your surname
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To make it easier on u just get a DNA test done threw ur local social services when u get that back u should be able to change it to ur last name no problem whatsoever…. Might take longer but cheaper way out
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You have to put in a newspaper in the city where said person lives for I think 2 weeks. I dont remember the whole process but look it up on line. You don’t need a lawyer to do it but you do have to get a form from the court
Idk why but I honestly believe children should take the mothers maiden
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If you’re in England you can change it by depol it’s about £20 but it will cost a lot more to start changing the birth certificate
Honestly just changed my daughters name and we went through vitalchek. They needed a list of requirements honestly but mine was court ordered in a custody case. But I would start there to see what you need to do. But yes a dna test would solve a lot of this too and get him removed off the birth certificate.
Go to the court house and ask for change of name papers. That’s all I did and I was in the same situation as you. I didn’t need a paternity test.
First of all this is hard thing to get out of a requires a lot of patients. First you need to get a dna done through a solicitor so it’s legally proven he isn’t the father then you have to deal with the registration office to have it removed if he refused to agree for it to be removed it has to be seen it court but I doubt he would refuse if it comes back he ain’t the father because it would be a waste of his time as the court would grant it anyway if dna proved he wasn’t the father. All I can say is it’s a lengthy process and not just something that’s done over a night or couple weeks x
Family court bring in bio dad they will order tests and make new birth certificates
Then again in NYS you can pay to change child’s name call your local county clerk ask questions
Just take him for child support… I’m sure he will take care of proving the kid isn’t his.
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You knowingly put the wrong name on your child’s birth certificate?! I try not to be judgy but that is shocking 
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Should.of just gave your last name. Not being rude so please dont take it rude. But, this is why i thunk DNA tests she be mandatory at birth of child. Too many people miss out on being a father because of women doing this. And in the end women end up hurting not only them but the child as well. I get not all men are perfect and some men arent father material. But if its issues like that just give the child your last name eventually dark comes to light. Bless your heart and that childs as well. Good luck. But, please as long as the bio father isn’t a person to harm a child etc give your child a chance to know there father. Its not fair for Your child to be deprived that. Trust me im 37 and my sperm donor of a dad I seen 2x since i was 1.5 years old drugs and prison etc were more important. My step dad is who raised me and i love him so much! And respect him much more. But the reality is my birth father is still my father a crappy one. But i came from his wrinkly sack 
She has the last name of the guy you were dating?
I’m sorry. Forgive me, but… why?
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How unfair to your daughter…next time make Decisions for your child and not the man you’re dating
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Yall females will do doing anything. Now the baby is going be confused…who her real father is because yall let anybody play daddy.
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Get a good lawyer and you were very selfish to have a guy who isn’t her bio dad sign the paperwork. Hopefully if you have kids again you don’t do the same you sure as heck didn’t know put your child needs frist. You put a man before your child how could you do that . Don’t be surprised when the lawyer give you the look. Don’t ever put a guy before your child. Good luck because you’re going to need it .
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Some states don’t even care about DNA
He’s her legal father and you’ll need his permission to change her name unless you file for abandonment and then petition for a name change
The paternity form and birth certificate forms turned in at the hospital are usually different than the birth certificate ordering form so even if you never sent off for a copy he is still on it
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Youll have to go to court and go in front of the judge.He/she will order a dna test and once it comes back proving your child isn’t his,you’ll be able to change the last name.
The court house and get a lawyer
You’ll probably need legal help, ask the local authority what you’d need to do. If he’s being an ass about letting you change it file for child support and I bet he changes his mind real fast
So u registered the latest fling as the dad? Apart from it being illegal, what were u thinking! Tey staying away from men for a wee while and putting your child 1st. Poor wee thing 16month old and already had 2 “daddies” Typical example of just because your vagina meets every man u do, doesn’t mean your child has to!!
You should make better decisions and put more thoughts in your actions. He is her father on paper and you will need to have his permission to change it since you allowed him to sign it. If it didn’t get sent off you may be lucky but the hospital had to send something to register your child for a SS number. The judge should make you pay for the DNA cause clearly that was a stupid move on your part and you clearly didn’t have your child’s best interests in mind. SMH! Why just why?
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before you do anything, grow up.
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For someone like me who didn’t have a big relationship with my fathers side of the family, I rely on genealogy to learn about my family. That goes off of birth records. If your daughter would ever want to dive into genealogy, she’s gonna have incorrect lineage documented because you put him on the birth certificate. And if he refused to give you paperwork to send it in, get more paperwork for yourself. And tell her who her real dad is for crying out loud. A child has a right to know her lineage and who she comes from. Doesn’t matter what any man says or wants.
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When you give birth, you and the father sign legal documents and its notarized its called a paternity affidavit, and thats what they get the names from for the birth certificate. Just because you change the child’s name does not change the birth certificate or remove the fathers name… Theres no way around it be a family court process, and there’s no way around you having to get the person on the birth certificates permission to be removed. The birth certificate is a very important , serious legal document, and its not easy to remove or change anything on it, and a judge will take all legal steps to verify the person isnt the father because you could just be lying to get him removed so that he doesn’t have rights, and just so you know that it is a very serious document that pulls a lot of weight and as of right now because of that he has all the same rights to your daughter as you do so be careful
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Why wouldn’t you put the actual father?
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Since he signed the birth certificate he is the legal father so there is a lot more to this than just changing a last name
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Imagine this. Your daughter decides to date somebody who is her biological brother. And doesn’t even know because she has somebody else’s last name AND can’t even know what her real last name Is on birth certificate. Incest waiting to happen. I hope you raise your daughter to know who she really is and who her dad is. Go to a lawyer, explain you made a stupid mistake and need to rectify it.
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It’s called a poor man’s adoption. He is now responsible for her until she turns 18. Youth talk to a lawyer, but from the way I understood it, u less the bio dad comes forward there’s nothing you can do about him being on the birth certificate…as for the name thing you could probably petition the court.
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Put him on child support and let the courts establish paternity. Once he’s determined not to be the father request a name change
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Some of these people are unbelievable… having someone’s last name is pretty important… you don’t just give them the last name of the guy your dating at the time 
think things through and make much better decisions for your family.
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or you could’ve just not put anyone on it but yourself ?
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Imagine just picking and old dick to give your kids last name.
He’ll have to pay child support if he doesn’t agree to take his name off the birth certificate.
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You need a lawyer and to let the actual dad know so he can petition as her father. Also knowingly falsifying government documents can get you in trouble. Take this as a lesson and never do it again.
pretty sure that’s illegal
And why would you want your child around an abusive punk anyway !!! Probably hurt her as she is not his !! Go straight to the court house
Call a lawyer he may not be legal you can always go to vital statistics it’s usually at your health department and ask for a copy for work certificate and go from there
Oh my gosh you guys are so hateful and judgmental…it’s a bit ridiculous… she was in an abusive relationship so she left, all you people saying grow up. Y’all need to shut your mouth and re-read her post 
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Firstly, it’s not illegal to put any last name. You can put whatever you want. Since he signed the birth certificate though he’s legally the father, which also is not illegal to do. But to change her name and get him off the birth certificate you’re going to have to petition the court and tell them you want her name changed and him off the birth certificate because he’s not the father and they’ll do a DNA test. They’ll also want the real fathers information though. If you don’t know where bio dad is they usually put the info in the newspaper and after a month if no one steps up to get tested then you can do everything
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- Get a lawyer
- Get a DNA test
- File for disestablishment of paternity (proof he’s not the biological father)
**** you also don’t need the biological father for this. Just don’t add a father/ name. Just leave it as unknown - Get copies of original birth certificate
- File for name change documents with court documents of disestablishment of paternity
- File for new birth certificate and SSC with supporting name change and court ordered disestablishment documents. Should take about 6 months for everything. In Iowa it cost about 1500 from start to finish
Just give her your last name but get on it a.s.a.p. call a lawyer
1.You can order the birth certificate
2. Go online and fill out the form to CORRECT the CERTIFICATE. Once you go through that you will have to reorder the corrected birth certificate.
It’s weird they don’t just send you a corrected copy, I went without my lil guys for awhile because I didn’t know I had to order it, I thought they’d
Send it with corrections. BUT NOPE.
AND if you don’t mind sitting on hold you can call in to make sure it’s been all corrected.
If the papers were never filed then you just need to go and file for her birth certificate
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And be sure to tell him If he does have to sign to be taken off, that if he don’t he will be paying child
Support of 400. A month.
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You can always change her last name in the meantime…legally you can go through the process and pay a fee and change her last name to yours…as for birth certificate, that may be tricky alot of legal mumbo jumbo…ps don’t listen to the assholes stating rude nasty things. You didn’t do anything wrong but trust the wrong guy. Life happens and apparently some of these comment-ers are trying so hard to hide their pathetic lives and lash out at someone to make themselves feel better or something like that 
Probate court is where u need to start.
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You don’t have to get a lawyer. But you will need to get a paternity test to prove he isn’t the father And then they will take him off the certificate.
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You should have left it empty! Seems this happens a lot!! You should have put the fathers name on not just some guy you was with!!
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I would go to the health center or where ever they do your birth certificates at and see if his name is actually on it. If you didn’t send the papers in and you weren’t married then his name might not be on it
This is why you dont put random dudes on your kids birth certificate dumbasa
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So as far as I know about things that deal with this, the second the “father”/a father signs the birth certificate, he IS legally the father in the eyes of the law. Did your hospital take the birth certificate and put it in the system for you? I know mine does and so does the other ones near me. If that is the case, you can go to your county’s record departments to get a copy of your daughters birth certificate. You really just need your ID and obviously your daughters name, birthday, etc. I would personally call your local court house and/or contact a lawyer to see what your next step is for this.
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I know in Pa if you are late sending in the acknowledgement of paternity, and they already sent the birth certificate, they automatically do not list the father. That’s also whether they signed papers in the hospital or not.
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You need to get his name off the birth certificate that’s not her dad, why would you do that? Call vital records and say there was a mistake and he is not the father and what steps do u need to take to get his name off the bc first so he does t try to turn around and take
Her from you
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Lesson learned. You can just request to have it changed UNLESS you let him actually sign the birth certificate, then you will need his permission. If he says no you can take him to court for paternity to write him off… HOWEVER in some states that is a federal offense (falsifying a federal document).
Look into your state laws, good luck.
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Why would u put a guy ur just dating name on ur child birth certificate… just to show a father name… that was a poor choice. But it’s already done… just do what u have to and change. Nothing wrong if ur child has ur last name…
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I’m not sure where you are but it’s illegal where I am. And is classed as falsifying a legal document, putting a father on the birth certificate when you know he’s isn’t the biological father. You can change it, bit you need to do a DNA and go through the courts to. Not sure if you will get into trouble for knowingly putting the wrong name on though.
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Go through court with biological father to get tested for DNA then after you get the results you can have her have his last name
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If you didn’t send it the papers it may be a different process or if your not in California. You can go to your towns family court house and they may have a free attorney to help you. (FRESNO, CA does). You’ll need to file some forms with court house but you need to see if there is a judgement of Parentage filed if so you need forms fl272 & fl273. File those with court once you get case number & court date you will have to have ex served. Its a long process and very complicated. But get on it now because you only have till baby is 2 to change her information. They will request you, baby and the father you put down take DNA test. Just FYI though when it comes to this courts do not care if he was an abusive liar.
Shouldn’t of gave her his last name when hes not her father never mind putting him on the birth certificate 
. You were dating and he was not the father.
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It is quite difficult to disestablish paternity even if it is known that the legal father is not the bio father. I would speak to a lawyer.
Ladies PUT YOUR OWN LAST DAMN NAME DOWN FOR BABIES IF YOU DON’T HAVE A GOOD BABY DADDY!!! NORMALIZE THAT SHIT.
Possibly unpopular opinion; birth certificates are medical records and should be treated as such. You should always put the biological father, not just who you’re dating.
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Many years ago my 1st husband had to go to court with his mother to change his last name and remove her ex who she put on just to get to his dad. He was 18 at the time and his bio dad had passed, she was not even married to the ex at the time she gave birth.
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Courthouse (Birth/Death records) and DNA to prove he isn’t her bio and have him removed. Best of luck.
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Youll probably need to petition the courts for dna test. If she is under 1 you may be able to change it without anything.
My sons dad who was actually only biologically my older sons dad signed my younger sons birth certificate and after my younger son was 2 we broke up and I wanted him removed from his birth certificate and what I was told by a lawyer is that once they sign that birth certificate biological parent or not they’re saying they take full responsibility for that child, because they are offered a dna test before signing it, if later down the road things turn out to not work out they’ve basically adopted that child.
Open a paternity case. You’ll need to get the dad to do a paternity test.
I went through the same thing and we went to court the court treated him as bio dad even though he honestly wasn’t and he had to pay child support I was stuck with it like that they said any dad was better then no dad
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In my state the father has to sign an acknowledgment of paternity and you cant just put a random guys name on it. Youll probably have to go to court.
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Call child support that’s how I changed my sons to mine from his fathers
Dating??? DATING? Not even married??? Tell me I’m reading this right 
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I think you/him have until she turns 2 to reverse this. If it isn’t done before that he is responsible 100% until she is 18! And will have to pay child support even if he requests a paternity test and it’s not his. Obviously. But like he signed it.
I we ould see a lawyer first to avoid yourself being charged with a crime. You may unknowingly cause yourself a bigger problem and end up encouraging him , an abusive person, to be a part of your daughter’s life. Get the facts from an attorney first. Good luck.
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Get a lawyer and go to the judge
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Find out how to get her a birth certificate. Fill out a new one and leave him off.
Go to the city hall & ask them. When I got married recently they name changing was easy. He may have to agree if not say the words child support and he will sign … guaranteed 
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Honestly hate to sound rude you’re screwed. I’m going through this right now, and bio dad can’t get any rights even tho he did a dna and they are keeping signed birth certificate father as acting bio dad.
You need to go thru the court and get a paternity test done to prove he isn’t the bio father….then get a paternity test done on the true bio dad so that he can take responsibility and at least pay child support, even if he doesn’t want visitation rights
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Call your county clerks office and see if there’s a birth certificate on file, the hospital sends in record of all births. You may be lucky and his name may not be on there buuuut if it is, you will have to take him to court and fess up about who her father is more than likely. But either way somebody taking a DNA test
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While I think what you did was super dumb I understand why you did it. Tell him he has to pay child support & i guarantee he’ll want of birth certificate
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Mayve because he was abusive and not real dad their could be some sort of law for that i would do some reserch then follow wat u need to do
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Or u could say u did a dna after thinking he was the dad to find out from dna he’s not that could work saying that to the court wen u go
Why not just have given your child your last name and not someone you were dating? I’m just curious.
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No matter what avenue you take your best off to not lie. The courts have seen this type of thing to many times to count. Your going to have to talk to the bio dad about a DNA test. No matter what your going to end up at the court house. You can’t just change the last name and leave him on the birth certificate that doesn’t make sense to me. You don’t want baby to have his last name but leaving him on the BC gives him all rights to her. Technically (especially if there is no police reports) he can walk in your house 2 minutes from now and lawfully take her. You gave him rights to your child as soon as you stupidly allowed him to sign those papers. My best advice buckle up and call a lawyer shots about to hit the fan.
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Take bio father for dna test. Which YOU are responsible for. And also all the fees associated with it, yep, your responsibility.
Next time don’t put a temporary person into a permanent position.
Smfh
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Probably have to do paternity test for them to remove him.
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First check to see if she has a birth certificate with the city. If she doesn’t then do what you need to do to get her one (and do not include his name) Second if she has a BC and he is listed as dad he is considered her legal father and a judge will not remove his name unless there is someone to take his place (a judge will not bastardize a child) so you’d have to wait until you meet someone who would like to adopt her and have him sign over rights (if he refuses threaten child support…usually works wonders)
If you have any question feel free to PM and I can walk you through who to call and where to go!
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