Name change for our 9-years old son

[shelant 0]

Hello everybody,

I was wondering if anyone could advise me on how to do the last name change for my 9-years-old stepson, who will become USC (I hope in about a year. My wife (his mother) changed her last name to her married name and we had a child who also have my last name. So, it means, just my step-son still has his old last name. Would be wonderful, if he could have the same last name as the rest of our family. As of now, we are applying for RoC, so I was thinking, when we apply for USC for my wife and my step-son, we could change his last name. The question is: can we do it? He will be 10 years old when we apply for USC.

Thanks for your help in this matter.

Look forward to hear your opinions.

[nwctzn 55]

After your wife naturalizes, your son will automatically become a US citizen; there is no separate citizenship application for children younger than 18 and holding a greencard.

Your son can get a US passport with his mother's naturalization certificate. If besides the US passport, you also want a certificate of citizenship for your son, then once your wife has naturalized, you can apply for N-600 (Certificate of Citizenship) for your son. It's your choice. Some say the US passport is enough, some prefer to have a separate certificate so that in the future the child does not need the parent's certificate.

Coming back to your name change question: Unfortunately, the name cannot be changed with the N-600 or with the passport application. For that, you would need to apply to a US court. I think (but I am not 100% sure) you cannot do this while the child is a greencard holder and hence, you need to wait until he becomes a US citizen via his mother's naturalization before you apply to court.

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Edited November 27, 2012 by nwctzn

[MayLiana72 2]

Go to your local family court to ask how to change child's last name. Then after mother become a citizen, apply for child's passport and (or) certificate of citizenship WITH the court order of name changing.

[nwctzn 55]

Go to your local family court to ask how to change child's last name. Then after mother become a citizen, apply for child's passport and (or) certificate of citizenship WITH the court order of name changing.

Can you change your name at a US court while being a citizen of a different country? I think you have to become a US citizen first, right?

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Edited November 27, 2012 by nwctzn

[aaron2020 11,651]

Can you change your name at a US court while being a citizen of a different country? I think you have to become a US citizen first, right?

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No. A green card holder can petition the local court for a name change. US citizenship is not a requirement to change a name.

[nwctzn 55]

No. A green card holder can petition the local court for a name change. US citizenship is not a requirement to change a name.

Thanks for the clarification.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hello everybody,

I was wondering if anyone could advise me on how to do the last name change for my 9-years-old stepson, who will become USC (I hope in about a year. My wife (his mother) changed her last name to her married name and we had a child who also have my last name. So, it means, just my step-son still has his old last name. Would be wonderful, if he could have the same last name as the rest of our family. As of now, we are applying for RoC, so I was thinking, when we apply for USC for my wife and my step-son, we could change his last name. The question is: can we do it? He will be 10 years old when we apply for USC.

Thanks for your help in this matter.

Look forward to hear your opinions.

We are dealing with a minor here, so the rules are different than when an adult chooses to change her name. If the biological father is alive, then you need to get his permission or a court order.

First, you cannot do it by filing with the US government. There is no mechanism for the biological father to object, so you can't do it. Since only adults naturalize, only they can change their names upon naturalization. Minors do not naturalize; they derive their US citizenship automatically from a US citizen parent. In addition, you can't apply for a name change by filing for the N-600 Certificate of Citizenship. It's not the same as an adult filing for citizenship with an N-400.

Second, the only way to legally change the name of a minor is the local state court. Since this is a minor, you will need to notify the biological father. If he objects, then you have a fight on your hands and the judge will make his decision based on the best interest of the child - which doesn't always means the more affluent US citizen's way. If he does not object, then you can go ahead with the name change.

Here is the procedure for California; http://www.courts.ca.gov/1052.htm

[shelant 0]

Thank you so much everybody for your answers.

Well, biological father's name is NOT present in my step-son's original (Russian) Birth Certificate. Only mother's name is in the document. We have NO idea if father is alive or not, he left my future wife right after the birth of his son, so the boy thinks I am his father Do you think, we still need to do something about it, or the court will just grant the permission to change the boy's last name?

Thanks again for all of your help!!!

We are dealing with a minor here, so the rules are different than when an adult chooses to change her name. If the biological father is alive, then you need to get his permission or a court order.

First, you cannot do it by filing with the US government. There is no mechanism for the biological father to object, so you can't do it. Since only adults naturalize, only they can change their names upon naturalization. Minors do not naturalize; they derive their US citizenship automatically from a US citizen parent. In addition, you can't apply for a name change by filing for the N-600 Certificate of Citizenship. It's not the same as an adult filing for citizenship with an N-400.

Second, the only way to legally change the name of a minor is the local state court. Since this is a minor, you will need to notify the biological father. If he objects, then you have a fight on your hands and the judge will make his decision based on the best interest of the child - which doesn't always means the more affluent US citizen's way. If he does not object, then you can go ahead with the name change.

Here is the procedure for California; http://www.courts.ca.gov/1052.htm

[nwctzn 55]

Thank you so much everybody for your answers.

Well, biological father's name is NOT present in my step-son's original (Russian) Birth Certificate. Only mother's name is in the document. We have NO idea if father is alive or not, he left my future wife right after the birth of his son, so the boy thinks I am his father Do you think, we still need to do something about it, or the court will just grant the permission to change the boy's last name?

Thanks again for all of your help!!!

Looks like you still need to contact the biological father and get his consent for the name change. If the father is not alive anymore, then you need to provide legal documentation showing that he has deceased.

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Edited November 30, 2012 by nwctzn

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

I'm married.

I changed my name to a more American sounding name when becoming an American.

My wife kept her maiden name. She likes it. I like it.

My wife's daughter, now an adult, kept her (now deceased) father's name who died on cancer at age 36. She likes the name. Her mom likes the name. I like the name.

So we are a happy family of 3 people with 3 different names.

Had we changed our daughter's name because we thought that's cool, I'm sure she would by now have castrated my with a broken off beer bottle in the middle of the night, and I couldn't blame her.

Let your boy decide if he wants a new name once he is old enough for that, which will be once he turns 18.

Stay out of it.

[NickD 203]

Kid still requires that paper trail with a name change. To bury that once and for all, only legal way to accomplish that is by legal adoption. Even with a name change, and without adoption, still a stepkid, get a divorce, you are free of child support payments, kick the bucketm SS won't give him a dime.

If the kid is naughty, under 18, steals a vehicle and kills people, you won't be liable, but your wife will be, but so will you, since you are equally liable for your wife's debts. Kind of a weird situation having a stepkid. When my stepdaughter became old enough to drive, had to pay a fortune for maximum insurance coverage for her. They could have taken my home, well not directly, but indirectly through my wife.

What changing his name to yours, is just fooling people and okay, I guess if nothing legal happens. Did attempt to adopt my stepdaughter, was told it had to be done in her home country. Would cost a huge fortune and take six years in my case. Posted this before, some replied they worked around it. While we live in the same country, have 50 different states and 50 different sets of laws on matters such as this. So can only suggest you find a family attorney or look up the laws in your state.

But ironically, if you change states, that new state with different laws will honor what your old state will do. Never realized how messed up this country is until I got involved with all this stuff.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Thank you so much everybody for your answers.

Well, biological father's name is NOT present in my step-son's original (Russian) Birth Certificate. Only mother's name is in the document. We have NO idea if father is alive or not, he left my future wife right after the birth of his son, so the boy thinks I am his father Do you think, we still need to do something about it, or the court will just grant the permission to change the boy's last name?

Thanks again for all of your help!!!

Because you know who the father is and your wife has made no attempt to terminate his parental rights, you MUST make "reasonable attempts" to serve and contact him. That's the general law in most if not all the states. The court does not take it lightly to terminate a non-citizen and non-resident's parental rights, even when the parent is absent. There is a legal way to terminate his parental rights, therefore the law requires you to legally serve him and give him an opportunity to assert his parental rights.

[peonyflowers99 4]

Thank you so much everybody for your answers.

Well, biological father's name is NOT present in my step-son's original (Russian) Birth Certificate. Only mother's name is in the document. We have NO idea if father is alive or not, he left my future wife right after the birth of his son, so the boy thinks I am his father Do you think, we still need to do something about it, or the court will just grant the permission to change the boy's last name?

Thanks again for all of your help!!!

If you decide to adopt him, that will solve the last name problem.