Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Married the Wrong Last Name

You are stuck with him unless you want to get a divorce. You can change your name back to your maiden name as part of a divorce proceeding, or you (and your daughter) can file name change petitions (available from the court clerk's office or www.courtinfo.ca.gov). If your daughter is under 18 you would file a petition to be nominated as her Guardian ad Litem and then a name change petition (under her name, "by and through [your name] as her Guardian ad Litem." The procedure for changing names involves paying a legal newspaper to run one of those "tombstone" ads (that nobody reads) in order to inform the whole world you are changing your name. You have to publish the ad once a week for three or four weeks and submit proof along with your name change petition. Many courthouses have sales reps from legal newspapers (e.g. Los Angeles Daily Journal) either at the courthouse or nearby. The newspaper will provide the proof documents as part of their service. Probably in the case of a minor child you would need to serve the other parent with notice of the proceeding.