Do I have to give my unborn child my husband's last name if we are divorcing?

You can give your child any name that you wish. It would depend upon what he has been convicted of as to whether or not those offenses would be taken into account when determining custody and visitation.

No, you do not have to give the baby your husband's last name. He may be able to get joint custody.

Custody is always based on the best interest of the child standard and many factors play in. The judge weighs all the evidence, credible witnesses and legal arguments and makes a decision. Sounds like he would have a very hard time building a good case for himself as a fit, responsible and reliable parent and you would likewise use such evidence in your favor. But other than that, it is not really possible to guarantee or even give probabilities of how much custody each parent will get. Even with the facts you have presented, there could be a chance that he would at least get some sort of visitation eventually under the right conditions/stipulations, including possibly supervised. You should consult with an attorney to discuss in more detail.

This child is presumably both your child. Thus the child's last name is an issue that can be addressed in the parenting plan, which has to be filed as part of the divorce. The fact that he is a convicted felon does not go to whether he has the rights of a father, but how much he gets to see the child in the child's best interest. It certainly has no bearing on the child's name. Depending on the nature of his convictions, he will get supervised or unsupervised time. The issue is not joint custody (custody per se does not exist in Washington divorces) but how much time the child spends with each parent and whether there is joint decision making authority.

I'm sorry for your circumstances. Divorce is tough, but divorce will very pregnant must be overwhelming. Your question is actually severl questions. First, are you and your husband separated (living separately) For legal purposes, your date of separation is very important, and after separated you should be able to choose your child's last name. Is your soon-to-be ex-husband likely to seek custody or visitation? His criminal history is certainly relevant, and depending on the type of criminal conduct (domestic violence is a very important crime, for instance), it is unlikely he'd be able to spend time with your child in unsupervised settings prior to completing parenting classes, a certain number of monitored visits, and obtaining a court order allowing unsupervised visits. It's a very good idea for you to consult with an attorney to make sure you know what your option are.