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step parent adoption with bio parent consent

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dawgs34

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arkansas

My daughter who is 16 has never had contact with her bio father since she was 2. I have remarried since when she was 4. When she started school we enrolled her with my newly married last name. She has since used that last name eversince. However on her birth certificate it still has her bio father's last name. I have been in contact with him and he is willing to sign the papers to have her last name changed to the last name she has been using almost her entire life( my married last name). I think i can do this without an atty but not sure where to start?? any help would be great!!
 


Proserpina

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arkansas

My daughter who is 16 has never had contact with her bio father since she was 2. I have remarried since when she was 4. When she started school we enrolled her with my newly married last name. She has since used that last name eversince. However on her birth certificate it still has her bio father's last name. I have been in contact with him and he is willing to sign the papers to have her last name changed to the last name she has been using almost her entire life( my married last name). I think i can do this without an atty but not sure where to start?? any help would be great!!


Are you trying to do a stepparent adoption or a name-change?

There's a big difference....
 

dawgs34

Junior Member
I need her birth certificate to be the same last name as her step father? I have been told that adoption is the only way.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I need her birth certificate to be the same last name as her step father? I have been told that adoption is the only way.
WHY do you "need" the birth cert to be the same name as step-dad?

YOUR birth cert isn't the same name as you currently have...


What are you trying to do?
 

dawgs34

Junior Member
my daughters last name is her stepdad's last name...that is the name we enrolled her in school....however, we never changed that on her birth certificate..when we enrolled her in school...they never asked about it...now she is trying to get her drivers license and her birth certificate has a different last name( it has her biological father's last name....whom she has not seen in 14 years....whom i have contacted and he will sign for her name to be changed)


***she does not want her drivers license to have her birth certificate last name, due to that is not what she has gone by..which is my fault for not doing it the right way..many many years ago...does any of this make sense?? lol
 
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Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
my daughters last name is her stepdad's last name...that is the name we enrolled her in school....however, we never changed that on her birth certificate..when we enrolled her in school...they never asked about it...now she is trying to get her drivers license and her birth certificate has a different last name( it has her biological father's last name....whom she has not seen in 14 years....whom i have contacted and he will sign for her name to be changed)


***she does not want her drivers license to have her birth certificate last name, due to that is not what she has gone by..which is my fault for not doing it the right way..many many years ago...does any of this make sense?? lol
You can do this with a name change. When the name is changed, you will be able to show those documents to the DMV for her license.

Alternatively, she could just get her license with her legal name and change it down the road.
 

Proserpina

Senior Member
my daughters last name is her stepdad's last name...that is the name we enrolled her in school....however, we never changed that on her birth certificate..when we enrolled her in school...they never asked about it...now she is trying to get her drivers license and her birth certificate has a different last name( it has her biological father's last name....whom she has not seen in 14 years....whom i have contacted and he will sign for her name to be changed)


***she does not want her drivers license to have her birth certificate last name, due to that is not what she has gone by..which is my fault for not doing it the right way..many many years ago...does any of this make sense?? lol


Then you don't need her birth certificate changed nor do you need a stepparent adoption. You simply need to file to change her name since Dad is in agreement.

The only way her birth certificate will be changed is via a stepparent adoption - and you'll need an attorney for that.
 

dawgs34

Junior Member
Then you don't need her birth certificate changed nor do you need a stepparent adoption. You simply need to file to change her name since Dad is in agreement.

The only way her birth certificate will be changed is via a stepparent adoption - and you'll need an attorney for that.
would the birth certificate need to be changed for college?
 

Proserpina

Senior Member
would the birth certificate need to be changed for college?

Nope.

Once a name change is completed legally, that will be all the documentation she needs.

(I mean, she may need to show both - her birth certificate, and the documentation reflecting the name change)
 

dawgs34

Junior Member
Nope.

Once a name change is completed legally, that will be all the documentation she needs.

(I mean, she may need to show both - her birth certificate, and the documentation reflecting the name change)
ok great!!! that is super!! Can you tell me what all i need to get that done and can I do that myself, since he is in agreement
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
This link should help:

http://tinyurl.com/39xlc8e

ETA:
Our very own FreeAdvice Forum provides information also!

http://family-law.freeadvice.com/name-change/arkansas-name-change.htm
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
But just so you know, your husband will still not be her legal father, will have no rights to make any decisions about her, be contacted by school or doctors if there is an emergency, or receive any other information about her other then what you tell him. Her father will still have those rights. She also won't be your husband's next of kin (along with you) if anything should happen to HIM. He will continue to be a legal stranger who happens to have the same last name as her.
 

Proserpina

Senior Member
FYI... in some jurisdictions (such as mine), when you do a name change, you are allowed a new birth certificate.


Yeap, I do remember you saying that before.

(See? I DO listen :p )


But in AK, from what I read, a new birth certificate won't be issued to reflect a name change in OP's circumstance.
 
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