Changing a Child’s Name: Parenting Orders and Their Implications
The Issue of a Child's Surname
Following separation, orders will need to be made with respect to providing for the continued shared responsibility of the children. Often the courts are called upon to determine very specific child parenting orders.
The Impact of Separation on a Child's Name
While this may seem to many a fairly trivial issue, it is one which can cause significant and unnecessary stress to both the parents and children. If one wishes to follow the tradition, then in the majority of cases the children retain the father's surname as was probably the case prior to separation.
However, in today’s society spouses very often retain their maiden name, and in many marriages some form of hyphenated surname adopting both parents' surname has become fashionable. Following separation, not only do the assets get divided, but so does the hyphenated surname.
When a Change of Name Is in the Child’s Best Interest
There are of course many situations where a change in a child’s surname may be for a very good reason. The father may have abandoned the children or not be exercising regular contact with the children and the mother may have retaken her maiden name or indeed remarried, and so in the right circumstances it might be in the child’s best interest to adopt the mother’s surname.
This might be but one example where the circumstances may warrant a change in surname.
The Court's Stance on Changing a Child's Name
The courts do not approve of unnecessary and/or frequent changes to a child’s name as this may cause unnecessary embarrassment and stress to the child. In order to approve a change in the child’s surname, the court must be convinced that it is in the child’s best interests to have such a name change. The child’s welfare is considered paramount.
