How canI change my children’s to my maiden name?
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How canI change my children’s to my maiden name?
I am in the process of starting divorce proceedings and my eldest child, 6, and I are eager to eliminate any association with my soon be ex, and father. Currently, he is under investigation for child abuse related to interaction with my eldest. Will I have to petition the court to terminate parental rights prior to petitioning the name change?
Asked on December 17, 2011 under Family Law, Pennsylvania
Answers:
L.P., Member, Pennsylvania and New Jersey Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Thank you for your question regarding the process of changing your child’s name due to your current issues with your child’s father with alleged child abuse. The laws relating to this issue, as with all child custody and child support issues, will depend greatly on the state in which you seek both child custody and support and will vary from state to state.
The process by which a petitioner (the adult seeking the name change for the child) needs to go through could be very extensive, and you should be prepared for a long process. There also may be several fees attached to this process. Some states require the petition to submit fingerprints. The fingerprints are used to conduct a state and national criminal background test of the petitioner. There may be a fee for the state to conduct these background tests. There may also be a processing fee for all of the paperwork that needs to be filed for the name change. Usually the state does not require signatures of both parents, but one parent’s signature is sufficient in most cases.
In most cases you would not need to wait until the child abuse case is decided in order to proceed with changing your child’s name to your maiden name. This is because not all name changes are done because there are instances of child abuse. The child abuse allegations will be dealt with separately from the name change. Depending on your state’s paperwork, there may be space on your paperwork to provide your reasoning for seeking your child’s name change, and you may want to mention the alleged child abuse and pending charges in this space.
If you need further assistance, you may find it helpful to contact a family law attorney in your area.
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