Little bit of background: my DSis and her STBEx separated after less than a year of being married, they have a DS who is now 4 who was born while they were married. Ex is on birth certificate.
Ex is awkward and a PITA, flatly refused to sign divorce papers, never paid CM etc. His mum, however, has provided free childcare for DSis at weekends so she can work.
Since they separated, DSis has met a new bloke, moved in and is now pregnant. They plan to marry once DSis can divorce without needing Ex's consent.
DSis is worried about new ways Ex can make things awkward for her. Her new DP is not happy that DSis still has ex's name etc as it is appearing on all the expected baby's paperwork etc.
She is worried that because she is still married to Ex, he will have some sort of responsibility towards the new baby, as he is the legal father if they are married, even though this is not biologically the case? I have not heard of this, so wanted to find out if it's true.
She's also worried about her DS having a different surname to the rest of the family once she married DP. Will this make it awkward for her to take him on holiday etc? If ex's permission is needed, he would definitely refuse.
Ex is really not interested in his DS, spends as little time with him as he can get away with, but he does love to make things awkward. Very unlikely that he would allow DP to adopt him.
Thanks, just looking to clarify exactly what rights Ex has here.