Cincinnati Family Law & Divorce Blog: Can I Legally Change My Child’s Name?

Parents can petition the Court to legally change their child’s name. Such petitions are filed through the Probate Court. If both parents agree that the change is in the child’s best interest, it is a simple process involving basic paperwork and a filing fee. However, there are often cases where one parent requests the name change and the other parent does not believe the change is in the child’s best interest. For example, if the parents are unmarried, the mother may have chosen the child’s name without any input from the father and the father, after obtaining other legal rights such as parenting time and/or custodial rights, may request that the child have his last name instead of mother’s last name. In other cases, the child may have the father’s last name, but due to specific circumstances, mother may no longer believe it is in the child’s best interest to...