dd2s ds1

[ilovesprouts]

hi my dd1 has a little boy who will be 2 in may ,shes due a new baby in july to her new partner can he adopt him as his own or can my dd change his last name like the new babys last name any advice ?

Where is the birth father? Would he agree to the adoption, do you think?

why does she want her partner to adopt him?

the birth farther does not have anything to do with him he saw him been born and came to see his son a few times ,would not call him by his name ,so not seen him for over 12m her bf wants to adopt him or change her ds1s last name

I'm really, really not an expert, but I think the principle the courts take is that any change to status quo needs to be demonstrably for the child's benefit. They will want the birth father's permission for the change (or evidence of good efforts to trace him if you don't know where he is).

I'm afraid `i don't know anything about the legalities of changing his name.

Have you tried posting in 'legal matters' and 'stepparents' for advice?

the birth fathers not on the bc ,he could not be botherd hes never seen him over best part of a year now

With adoption, even if he is not on the bc and has no rights, he will still be taken into account if he objects. Adoption is a major move and will affect the childs life forever so the court will take objections into serious consideration. If you haven't seen him in a while, you need to make moves to trace him. If you can get his permission for adoption and can prove he is not at all involved, it will probably be easier to do. Step parent adoption is done though social services as well, so contacting your local SS about it is a good step, and they can probably give you advice on what you need to do about bf as well

Legally changing a childs name requires the signed written permission of every adult with parental rights. You need to check the laws on birth fathers and rights carefully, but if he's not on bc he probably doesn't have parental rights. You can get name change info here www.ukdps.co.uk/CanIChangeMyChildsName.html

Obviously name changing and adoption are very different steps and one is a much bigger thing than the other, so it's worth your daighter and partner having a serious discussion about what they want