im under 18 and my boyfriend is 19 is it legal for him to sign the birth cerfiticate , and do you have to be married in order for the baby to have his last name?
Both you guys, (the Mother and the Father) can sign, regardless of age and NO you do NOT have to be married for the baby to have his Father's last name.
In AZ, once you are pregnant you are emancipated (make your own decisions and are legally responsible) in all matters regarding your pregnancy and your child. You will sign the birth certificate. You may give the child whichever last name you wish. With that said, make your choice carefully. That will be the child's legal name no matter what happens to your current relationship. It takes quite a bit of time and money to change it later if you end up wanting to do so.
You may want to talk to an AZ family law attorney about the consequences of giving or not giving your baby your boyfriend's last name. It could have consequences down the road. I can give you a list of legal aid resources if you like, just PM me.
Yes, he can sign the birth certificate and you can give your baby any first or last name you want.
He can sign the birthcertificate, you can use your last name or his for the baby.
YOU sign the birth certificate as the mother. He can also sign it as the father (or fill out an affidavit of paternity whatever the rule is in your state and county).
As for last name, you could name the baby Sunshine Moonbeam if you wanted to. That being said: if the two of you are not married, I'd advise you to at least HYPHENATE the baby's last name so that the baby has your last name as well. If/when you get married, you can change both of your names to dad's if that's what you want to do, but if you never get married, you'd have a VERY hard time changing baby's name to include yours down the road.
HTH
T.
I don't know the laws in AZ, but here you need to sign paper work verifying the babies paternity. This says that your boyfriend and you both agree that he is the babies father and this way your kid gets his last name.
You do not have to be married in order for the baby to have the father's last name. However, it's hard to change so if there's a chance your relationship won't work out, you may want to give the baby your own last name.
