Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: A newborns last name

For starters, he will have to formally acknowledge paternity. If the baby was born in a hospital, the hospital should have forms he can fill out. Merely filling out this form will not, necessarily, give the child his last name - -

BUT in case the issue has to be "struggled with" in the future, this first step is critical. In the event that the mother thwarts him from filing the form "in care of" or "by way of" the hospital, there are other methods such that he can achieve the same necessary goal: formally acknowledging paternity of the child.

Regards, etc.,

J. M. Hayes

>>--> The foregoing amounts to musings and observations based on some years familiarity with the 'day-to-day' operation of the law with regard to the issues involved In The Most General sense; my remarks should not be thought of as "legal advice and counsel" in the formal sense of that phrase, since there is, in fact, no 'attorney / client' relationship existing between us. <-<<