To be or not to be...?

Question

I married a wonderful man and changed my last name.My daughter however still has my maiden name.My hubby doesn't bother me about it at all.Now we are expecting another child in 12 weeks and she will have his last name.Should I change my daughter's last name even though she isn't biologically his?

I know I forgot to put her age.She has just turned 2.

Answer 1

is he her daddy? as in be there for her
does he pay for her care ?
does he love her like his own ?

if you answer yes to these questions then you have your answer

Answer 2

Would advice you to have her name changed since she is still so young. As she grows older in the same name, she will question you back, or I might see her post questions here on why is her last name different from the rest of you....

Answer 3

I had that same problem with deciding what to do. I ended up hyphenating my 2nd child's last name with the fathers last name - my last name. I wanted my 2 children to have the same last names. Also when they go to school people will know they are siblings. My babies father understood and was fine with the solution. how old is your first daughter? If she already knows her last name then I wouldn't change it.

Answer 4

NO my mother did that and when I became a grown woman I changed it back, as a matter of fact I started using my original name from in high school.
Let her be her own individual.
Do not take that away from her, she is not his and not even a name will make her his, you are thinking she will feel out of place having a different name, she is the step child and will always be that cannot change.
I would never advise anyone to do that I hate my mother for doing it to me. Even though I loved my step dad!
I remember as a teen ripping off the affidavit part on my birth paper that gave me the authority to change my name to his.
leave her be, she will be proud of he own name in the end.

Answer 5

Yes, it will make you all feel like more of a family. I don't know how old your daughter is, but she may feel a little left out if everyone else has the name "Smith" and she is still a "Jones"

Answer 6

I think it depends on whether or not she has a relationship with her real father. It would make it much simpler, if you all shared a surname.
How about double-barrelled surname. I know a couple up the road whose children are named after both the mother and father.
Smith-Jones etc.

Answer 7

He would have to legally adopt her to change her last name to his. That would require her biological father to sign off all parental rights to her, which would also mean you receive no more child support. I don't know what your particular situations is concerning her biological father, but that is what would probably be done. You would have to contact a lawyer about it all. Good luck and congrats on your new baby!

Answer 8

If your ex-husband and his relatives agree on that,YES,but if they don't you'd better not change her last name because she is your husband's daughter as well as yours.Later when she grows up she can decide what her last name would be.

Answer 9

Well you should talk to your daughter about it, see how she feels about the name change and then ask your husband how he feels about changing her name to his last name.

Answer 10

I would say yes. If she were older, I would say ask her. But at 2 there is no way she could know what she wants.

Answer 11

talk to your daughter before you decide that. i know a family and they all have different last names, they are closer than any other family i know