My son has my last name. His father just can back into his life after 8 years and want to give my son his last name. Do I have to change it?

Dear Anonymous: The short answer is no, you do not have to voluntarily consent to change your child's last name.  If the father files an action to establish paternity, (and you do not state whether this has ever been done previously) he can, at that time, request that the child's name be changed.  However, absent an agreement between the parties, if the Court permitted the name change it would be a hyphenated version, with both party's names included, and in alphabetical order. So, for example, if your last name was Jones and the father's last name was Smith, then the birth certificate would be amended to be "Jones-Smith."  Since he has been out of your child life for so long, it is questionable whether he would actuallyspend the time and money to go through the legal process for a name change, particularly since it would also, subject him to paying child support...if he is not already. Best of luck, Cindy S. Vova Law Offices of Cindy S. Vova, P.A. Broward/Miami-Dade: 954-316-3496 Boca Raton/Palm Beach: 561-962-2785