Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland
Daughter wants baby's last name changed.
We live in Baltimore, Maryland. My daughter is not married. She had a baby on May 15th of this year. Paternity was established in the hospital. Her boyfriend handed her the paper and a pen and told her to sign it. She, at the time, had just had a C-section and was on pretty heavy doses of Demerol for the pain. She signed the paper without even reading it. She had no idea what she was signing. I was in the room at the time and after she signed it, I said to her boyfriend ''What did you just have her sign''? He handed me the paper and it was the ''Paternity'' paper. She does not want her baby to have his last name. Of course, because of the signed ''Paternity'' paper, his last name is on the birth certificate. She wants to have her daughter's last name changed. Can anything be done about this? Thanks, in advance, for your response.
Deborah Miller
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Daughter wants baby's last name changed.
Your daughter will probably have to file a petition for change of name in court. Is she expecting the father to pay child support? He's legally obligated to do this. But he might be less reluctant to start doing this if she lets things be for now. What she ought to do is have a child support agreement drawn up by an experienced family attorney that will base the amount of support on the MD child support guidelines. It would contain a legal admission of paternity that could be filed in court.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
