Adoption or name change

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

A year ago I had remarried and my children and I moved from our home state of Michigan. My new husband would like to adopt my children, but my ex husband had stated (before we got married) that he would not allow any kind of adoption. Well, my ex is no where to be found in Michigan, even his family don't know where he is at. The friend of the court has not had any kind of address change either, and he is not employed. My question is, can my husband adopt my children? If not, is there a way that we can legally change their last names w/o my ex's permission? They have both mentioned on numerous occasions that they want the same last name as me and my new husband.

Thank you

You need either his consent or a court order for either of those actions.

You would need his consent, unless you can show that you have made "reasonable attempts" to locate and serve him with the petition.

An attorney in your state can tell you what the definition of reasonable attempt" is.

Once you have satisfied that stipulation, you can proceed with your petition and show that you have attempted to locate the parent and were unable to locate him for service.

It may require you to run multiple adds in multiple newspapers attempting to locate him for a set amount of time, I think in some states it's 6 months.

Good luck. It is possible to proceed without his consent, but it takes longer and is usually more expensive due to the "ads" etc.