Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
Name Change of Minor Child in my custody
I have permanent custody a 5 yr old child whom my ex and I were going to adopt.(I have had him since birth, coming home from hospital) During a bitter divorce he claimed possible paternity of the child as the bio mom is a friend of ours. He lost all rights after DNA resulted in him not being Dad and a SS investigation showed he had been in jail for child abuse. I would like to know how to change last name of child as he has ex's last name and I have changed mine. Bio Mom is in full agreement of all of this and bio dad was found to be unknown and I have court documents saying so. My soon to be husband and I are going to adopt him together when we are married and we have a bio-son between us and we would like the children to have same last name. What should we do now as we would like to change his name before he starts school.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Name Change of Minor Child in my custody
You will have to file a petition in the Circuit Court of the county where you live to change your child's name. The petition will be published in a local newspaper to notify anyone wishing to contest this that they have a right to do so. After the time for protest expires, it should be a routine matter to get a court order changing the name.
Re: Name Change of Minor Child in my custody
Even though you would like to have the child's name changed before he starts to school, the process does take some time and it would make more sense to wait. Instead of filing a separate petition for a name change, you can simply have the name changed as part of the adoption procedure. If the wedding and adoption are expected to take place soon, you might want to inform the school and begin the school year with the new name even though it is not yet official.
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