Who currently contains legal right of my daughter?

I want to file for a name change for my daughter and am currently reading about the legality of the whole process. The website where I am reading states, "Written consent to the name change must be provided by all adults who retain legal rights over the minor".

I am 17 and am going to college to become a nurse though I am not currently working. My parents help me financially with my daughter because her "father" is in jail and will be in there for the next 9 years. He does not see her or speak to her; he is nothing to her [my father is her male role model].

So my question here today is whether or not her "father" has any legal right over my daughter... he signed the affidavit's, his name is on the birth certificate, but he is no longer in her life.

Do I need his consent to change her name?

I haven't had any custody hearing or anything of that sort... do I need to b/c he is in jail..don't I already have full custody?

MAIN QUESTION:Do I need his consent? Can he object 2 name change?

Hammertime

Tell the court that he abandoned you and the child and dont know his whereabouts...You will need to run an add in the newspaper and thats it....

Damocles

If you have not had a court hearing, and/or he has not signed away his parental rights, you do not have "full custody". Unfortunately he still has some say. Try to get him to sign off on giving up custody. Otherwise, he will continue to be able to assert his rights in the future. If he refuses, you will need to go to court to get custody.

Todd B

Yes you do need his consent since he signed the birth certificate. He still holds legal rights to your child.

And yes, he can object to it. He has to sign away all rights to you to have sole custody.

É· É¹É™É¥Ê‡ÉÉ™É¥ É· due 08/24/09

You need to take him to court. You both have custody of your baby, but I think with him being in jail, you might have a better chance of getting full custody. But if he has a bad rap sheet, and if you go to court for custody, he would most likely have a lesser chance of having full custody than you.

Danjc

if he is on the birth certificate that you need his concent nomatter if he is in her life or not. If he is not on the birth record than no concent is needed

tianjian_8

Unless he has had his parental right terminated by court order, he still has rights. Is he paying child support, or at least obligated to do so? Yes, you need his consent. Yes, he can object. Will the objection succeed? Maybe.

Lynn

If his name is on the birth certificate then you will need his consentand yes he can object.

xosunkissedxo21

you might want to call a lawyer about that one. its a toughy

Popeye420

You need to file a motion for sole legal and sole physical custody of the minor child. Along with no visitation rights to the father.

Currently he has as many rights to the child as you do. If he got out of jail tommorrow he could pick up the child and take her and the police could do nothing.

You need to have legal papers.

Even after you have papers that state "sole legal & physical" custody you will still need his approval for the name change.

The only way that you will be able to have complete control of your child is if you file for abondonment or that you request it through the court. You may request the name change through the court, but again, the father can object to this. He also can refuse to give up his rights as well.

Even though he is in jail, he still needs to be served with court papers and he is still taken to court. Your chances are good that you will get your way. The longer you wait for this, the lower your chances are.

You are under 18, so you and your parents should go get an attorney for this issue. It will make life easier and make the process a hell of a lot faster. Also you might want to think about a restraining order against the daddy and his family. I am sure once news gets out that you are taking his rights away trouble will come around to.

trekingal

unfortunately yes, he does have rights too, because his name is on the birth certificate. you need consent and he can object. sorry.
your best bet is to take this all to a lawyer and get your own affidavit made stated he is no longer in either of your lives and he is in jail etc. ask lawyers advice thereafter if you can try and apply without consulting him. then apply for name change and wait to see if he responds.
it may also depend on the name change. is it the first name , whole name or the last name. you could (if its changing her last name from his to yours) you could get it hyphenated and then never use his part my sisters ex did that with their kid.
eg. billy silvers-wilson known as: billy wilson
:)

stenobrachius

You need legal help with this, because laws vary from state to state. In my area, there is a Family Law Facilitator in the courthouse that can help with paperwork for free.

First, you should legally establish full custody for your daughter. The default is usually shared custody, and you don't want that! It should be a simple matter of filing the right papers, since her father is in jail.

Since you are under 18, you probably need a legal adult sign a name change. And if the dad is over 18, he might have more legal pull than you do. It might be better to wait until you are 18 and initiate things yourself.