Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee
Illegitimate child
Can you legally give the biological father's last name to a child born out of wedlock? Or does the father have to adopt the child for it to have his name legally?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Illegitimate child
Don't know about Tennessee (you'd have to ask a TN lawyer), but in Conn, it is usual that the biological father's name goes on the birth certificate. (That doesn't legally establish him as the father, though).
Re: Illegitimate child
The illegitimate child bears the last name of the mother unless the father agrees or adopts.
Re: Illegitimate child
The child can bear the name of the father without adoption. According to Connecticut Statute � 7-50, if the father completes an acknowledgment of paternity at a hospital, his name is placed on the birth certificate. If this is done later, and filed with the town, the father's name is placed on the birthcertificate. The acknowledgment of paternity also is an acknowledgment that the father is responsible to support the child for the next 18 years.