Legal Question in Family Law in California

Schools and healthcare providers have gotten pretty used to the last name designations set up in the fashion you suggested in your question. You might want to check with your child's healthcare provider to see if this makes any difference to them on how they designate the records that they keep.

This isn't really a legal problem, but I can offer a personal perspective. My wife is an accomplished plastic surgeon. So she has kept her maiden name. When we had our son we made a decision to give him her last name because she only has an unmarried sister, while I have a brother with two sons, and I already have two sons from a prior marriage. So we decided to continue her family name into the next generation along with mine. This occasionally results in some mild confusion and puzzled looks, particularly since she is a Chinese-American, and I certainly don't look like the father of a little boy with a Chinese last name. Other than that, however, it has completely been a non-issue, and certainly not any kind of an issue from a legal standpoint. I should also add that my ex took back her maiden name, and then remarried and took her husband's name. So she doesn't have the same last name as my other sons either. Again, a complete non-issue in any legal respect or any other way that matters.