Legal Question in Family Law in Montana

Re: family

Not necessarily. You can file a petition for change of name without stepfather adopting thechild. However, success is iffy.

Courts generally consider that, if the biological father is active in the child's life, changing the child's name can be construed as obstruting the parent-child bond.

However, if you can show that bio dad is not active in the child's life, and that the change of name will not inhibit the father-child relationship because the relationship is infrequent and unreliable, the Court might agree.

You might also be able to show that the name change will be beneficial to the child -- for instance, if this child is the only family member without the family's common last name, a name change might make the child feel more integrated into the family.