questions & answers

Question: My child who I have custody of due to taking his mother to court for mental heath reasons. With that being said I have taken the paternity with it saying I’m the father, which I knew. what do I do now to get my name on my sons birth certificate. I have his birth certificate with me. His mother will not agreee to sign the necessary paperwork for me to be added onto his birth certificate. What packet would I need to go down to the court and get this case started. The end result is be put on the birth certificate and proceed to change his last name to mine bc mother is not present / active.

Answer: One part of your question is a bit unclear.  Did you take a paternity test?  Did you file and win a paternity action?  If you filed a paternity action and have a court order declaring you to be the father, the process is fairly simple.  You can go on the court's website and access the forms and instructions for changing the name of a minor.  Go to: https://www.azcourts.gov/selfservicecenter/Forms/Name-Change. You will need to follow the instructions.  Once you have the court order, you can go to Vital Records and get a new birth certificate.