name change for minors

i am the custodial parent of 2 girls and live in arizona, the birth father lives in washington state. i have recently discovered that the birth father is engaged in a pornography business over the internet and his name & photos are readily available to whomever searches his name. my girls have his last name and have begun to become curious about geneology and name searches. they will come across this information very soon and it will devestate them. i want to change their name to my new husbands name, their step-father, who is the father raising them. they see their birth father 2 times per year and i will be ending visitations soon except to their grandmother in washington. do i have the right to submit for a court ordered name change for the children? my parenting plan is in the state of washington. is this the state i pursue in?

[tigger22472]

I answered your other post and this one gives more light. Sounds like the best bet is to have your husband adopt the children. That would assure the name change and the fact that I you were to pass, as you asked earlier that he would get them. How long have you lived in Arizona? YOu should contact a lawyer for a consult and check to see if you can get the order changed to your state. However, if you are going to ask BF for his rights so your husband can adopt you might want to leave it in Washington, making it easier for him to comply without giving you hassels if you want to do it easy and quick.

thank you for the response. BF pays monthly support quite unwillingly. Other contact is very minimal and initiated by the children not the BF. Contact was minimal even before the move 2 1/2 years ago to arizona. BF will fight an adoption, but does not have much of a case. i was hoping to keep him responsible on the support payments, but cover our bases in other ways. However, i expected the adoption answer would be the one that would be inevitable. thank you.

[tigger22472]

Let me guess he's one of these BF that doesn't want to pay support(some don't, some do very sporatically and some do cuz they've finally been busted), doesn't see the children often but won't sign over his rights cuz that's too easy. He would rather be able to tell people that he's a father and then spread the stories of how you're the evil EX that won't let him see his kids and took off out of state and basically kidnapped them. Can you tell I've been there??? I know it's tough but if you want it to go smoothly be nice and sound as if you're doing it for him also. Tell him he can keep what visitation he has and yet not pay the support anymore if he turns over his rights. Is he supposed to or does he pay insurance? That would be another thing to use. If you really want this and he's really all that bad which he does sound like you're going to have to figure out a way to do it. GOOD LUCK

[ellencee]

azsun
I don't see the ages of your children in the posts, but I recall that you said they were becoming interested in geneology and such. I imagine they already know their birth names, and their father's name, etc., so a name change or adoption would not keep them from searching their father's family and his name.
You could put a block on information that your PC allows to be accessed, but we all know how well that works--you won't be allowed to read the news! lol
Anyway, here's another idea if the name change is something you're interested in regardless of the bio search.
It is legal (and I hope this is still true) to use a different name, as long as it's not for illegal purposes. For example, if you want the children to have the same last name as you, they can use your current last name, but on certain documents will have to put 'aka' (also known as). You may consider this option and talk it over with others.
I'm sorry there is no way to protect your children from who their father has become, but the knowledge that such dangerous behavior changes can happen to even those we love, is a protection against letting it happen to one's self. You could use these unfortunate circumstances to become awareness and defense tools to be used by your children throughout their lives.
Good luck, and may God bless you and your children.

Thank you for the help. The kids are 15 & 12. The 12 year old wants her name changed. After talking with her today, I find that she has suspected many of the things about her BF and my confirmation helped her immensely today. I will be talking with the 15 year old soon. Visitations are stopped as of today. I have sole custody and sole rights to do this. He only saw the kids twice a year before we moved, but of course after the move, he guilted the kids saying what a good dad he had planned on becoming and how much more he was going to see them the year we left. The child support only gets paid because his mommy watches him like a hawk to make sure it does! I am going to petition the state for the name change and cite the reasons. I certainly have a lot of documentation for a judge to see why a child should not bear the old name. If legal adoption is the only way, the 12 year old is ready. I can only hope the 15 year old feels the same way.

Thank you for your support and help.