Name Change advice!

[missy]

Ok, need some advice. My husbands ex says that if anything happens to him, than her husband is going to adopt the kids and take his last name. How can he stop her from doing that if something should happen? He only has the one son, and if his name is changed, than my husbands family name will die off. Can she do that? Also, I heard that if he does adopt them, then they wont get social security benefits anymore. Is this true? I know that alone would keep her from changing the names since she is about free $$.......Any suggestions or advice?
He is the NCP, and has state minimum guidelines set up in Indiana.
Thanks for any help!!!

[socrateaser]

>Ok, need some advice. My husbands ex says that if anything
>happens to him, than her husband is going to adopt the kids
>and take his last name. How can he stop her from doing that if
>something should happen?

You can't, unless you have a very large estate, that is. In which case, you could state in your will that if the child's name is changed before he/she is 18 years old, that the child gets nothing.

Trouble with this is that even if you intentionally disinheret a minor child, the child is still entitled to child support from your estate, so unless your estate has enough assets to pay the support bill until the child is no longer entitled to support, then there would be nothing left in your estate by the time the child reached 18, and the incentive will have disappeared.

>He only has the one son, and if his
>name is changed, than my husbands family name will die off.
>Can she do that?

Yes, she probably can.

Also, I heard that if he does adopt them,
>then they wont get social security benefits anymore. Is this
>true?

Think about this logically. Would you do something as trivial as changing your child's legal status in exchange for losing free money paid from the government. She's not gonna do that, and her new husband, despite what he says now, probably will refuse to adopt, because doing so places him in the crosshairs if he is ever divorced from her.

I know that alone would keep her from changing the names
>since she is about free $$.......Any suggestions or advice?

My suggestion is for you to love your child, and hopefully, if this ever actually happens, when the child reaches adulthood, he/she will honor your memory and change his/her name BACK!