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?


Asked on 5/11/04, 8:45 am

3 Answers from Attorneys

John Heffernan Heffernan Legal Group, LLP

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).

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Answered on 5/11/04, 9:30 am
Christine O'Sullivan Law Offices of Christine B. O'Sullivan

Re: Illegitimate child

The illegitimate child bears the last name of the mother unless the father agrees or adopts.

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Answered on 5/11/04, 9:51 am
Bonnie Lee MacDonald Law Office of Bonnie Lee MacDonald

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.

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Answered on 5/11/04, 10:34 am


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