My ex husbands name has never been put on my daughters birth certificate, she is 13 years old now but it was proven in court that he is the father. He has never been involved in her life and has only paid six months of child support in all of 13 years, is there some legal way that 1. I can get a passport for her without his written permission, 2. can I get her name changed without his permission, and 3. can my fiance' legally adopt her, giving her his last name without my ex husbands permission ? I have full sole custody of my daughter. Needing an answer right away.
2007-11-30 16:04:50 · 8 answers · asked by ? 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
If he has not paid child support, and owes back child support, you may have leverage to get him to agree to sign off on his rights to get a get out of jail free card...... You don't push for the money and he signs off on name change and adoption....
Talk to an Attorney.....
EDIT...At least be married and have some time together before an adoption, Ms Bama has the right Idea.....
At 13 besides wanting to please you, what does your daughter really feel about all of this.....She is really caught between a rock and a hard place , a deadbeat dad and being pulled to deny him.....you could be unknowingly tearing her apart........
as for name change, she can do that when she is old enough to marry and she can call herself anything she wants so long as it is not for the purpose of fraud....
2007-11-30 16:14:52 · answer #1 · answered by Judy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your 'ex ' has been 'negligent' at best in not being involved regardless of the reasons. I do not know the laws of your state, but I wager that if you show the courts that you and your fiance plan to marry and provide the evidence of negligence you should have no problem legally of changing the daughters' name.
You do have 'sole' custody, so you are the primary caregiver.
'Ex' has never been put on the birth certificate.
'Ex' only paid 6 months of child support.
I would call that 'abandonment'.
2007-11-30 16:18:54 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
im not too sure about ?'s 1&2 but if you can contact the birth father and get him to legally renounce his legal rights to his daughter (its what they make parents sign when they put their child up for adoption) than your finance can adopt her. once that happens 1 and 2 is pretty much self spoken for, seeing how her new legal father would be ur current finance. The name change usually follows suit with an adoption and when the biological father gives up his parental rights, he will have no say on the whole passport and taking her out of the country thing.
2007-11-30 16:15:54 · answer #3 · answered by Anim8ng Mommy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For your fiance to adopt you have to sever your ex-husbands parental rights, either with his permission or through the courts. What might help is to file deadbeat charges against him and then inform that the deadbeat charges have to be dropped if he signs the papers severing his rights, otherwise he owes back child support for the time he didn't pay, plus interest.
But no, there is no way to do the adoption wihout his knowledge and either his consent or an adjudication against him.
BTW: Heed Miss Bama's warning.
2007-11-30 16:11:52 · answer #4 · answered by Gray Wanderer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately even though he has in essence abdicated his rights to her, he still is the legal father. He has to sign off on everything you're talking about. Be careful about letting another man adopt your kid until you are completely sure it will last. A lot of times well meaning step parents want to adopt the kids but when the relationship ends it's the kid who gets screwed.
2007-11-30 16:11:46 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm thinking that if you have full sole custody then you are free to have her named changed, take her out of the country (passport) and adopt her too. it really depends on whats in your divorce papers. i would not look for advice here on this. try a family attorney or at least start at legalzoom.com
2007-11-30 16:10:40 · answer #6 · answered by Johnny U 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
your daughter is old enough to make a choice in her name. I would really sit and talk to her and see what her views are and what does the name change mean to her as a connection to that part of her hertiage, her life and her relationship to him, besides easy access to certain things in her life such as a passport. I don't want you to think that the things you name are small but her feeling are such a bigger picture and to make sure YOU ARE NOT SHOWING ANY BIAS EITHER WAY...HER LIFE, HER CHOICE
2007-11-30 16:16:35 · answer #7 · answered by ladybost 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. Yes
2. No.
3. No
You MUST either get his permission or get the court to mandate for 2 & 3.
2007-11-30 16:08:48 · answer #8 · answered by cyanne2ak 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋