You can change your child’s surname provided that you have obtained consent from everyone who holds parental responsibility (PR) for your child. PR is a legal concept which refers to all the rights, responsibilities, and powers that a parent has towards a child. It imposes obligations such as providing a home for the child but also gives them the right to make important decisions about their upbringing including a change of surname. PR is automatically granted to biological mothers. The other parent will only acquire PR if they are named on the child’s birth certificate or is married to the mother at the time of the child’s birth. Other parties like family members or the Local Authority may also be granted PR using either a parental responsibility agreement or a Court Order.
Change of surname by agreement
If you have permission from everyone with PR to change the child’s surname, the process can be completed via a deed poll. The deed pool would need to be lodged together with other supporting documentation at the Royal Courts of Justice where it will become a public record. It is important to obtain a prior consent of a a child aged 16 or 17 to the change of their name.
Application to the Court
Most legal disputes about the child’s surname typically arise from a relationship breakdown. It is a common occurrence for one parent to wish to revert back to their maiden name after a divorce. The added complication is when the parties subsequently remarry and again change their surnames. In the absence of an agreement between, it may be necessary to make an application to the Court for a Specific Issue Order.
The legal test for applications concerned with a change of a child’s surname is laid out in the landmark case of Dawson v Wearmouth UKHL 18. The Court’s primary consideration will always be whether the change of surname is in the child’s best interests. In determining this issue, the Court will also have regard to the rationale behind the proposed change of surname to ensure that it is not designed to reduce significance of the other parent in the child’s life.
A surname is an integral part of every child’s life which forms part of their identify and helps connect them to their cultural and religious heritage. The following factors will therefore play a pivotal role in the Court’s mind when dealing with applications of such nature:
- The effect on the child should a change be allowed;
- How long the child has been known by their existing surname;
- The effect on the child should the change be refused;
- The reasons for the change of surname;
- The age and wishes and feelings of the child in the context of which surname does the child want to be known by.
The law does not support applications made for a convenience’s sake or out of sense of “ownership” about the child. Before embarking on a legal battle it may therefore be worth proposing that the child’s surname is double-barrelled as a way of compromise.
