I have2 children with a woman but we were never married, how canI get her to stop using my last name?

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I have2 children with a woman but we were never married, how canI get her to stop using my last name?

I did not give her permission to use it. How legally can I get her to stop if I do not want anyone to think that I was ever married to her?

Asked on April 7, 2011 under Family Law, Texas

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

You may not be able to stop her:

1) Anyone can legally change their name to anything (well, I believe there are some limitiations about not using a name that is obscene). So if she's done the proper paperwork, she could legally change her last name to yours, just as anyone could, for example, change their last name to "Obama."

2) Even if she doesn't use it, she can simply tell people her name is whatever yours is and use that name informally, as anyone can tell someone else to "call me Bob" or whatever.

She can't actually represent that she is married or try to obligate you to charges, contracts, etc. Doing so may constitute identify theft, fraud, etc. But simply using or changing the name without otherwise representing you're married--she probably can do this.


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