CHILD IDENTITY

[Essaitch57]

My partners son and his partner of seven years recently parted company, they have agreed a rota for seeing their daughter and although it is heavily laid in her favour they seem to have reached a compromise. On Friday he went to pick his daughter up from her new school and all the tags in her school clothes had been re-labelled with the mothers surname, although he is named as the father on the birth certificate. Is she within her rights to call their child by her maiden name as it is confusing for the child and probably others at the school who knew her by her fathers name originally?

[smartie733]

yeah she can call the child what she likes. But leagally the child will still have his surname so opening bank accounts etc will still be in original name. to change her name legally he would have to sign a form allowing it to happen

[ojread2]

I'd be very surprised if the school allowed this though, as thier registers need ot be have the child's legal name on it. If it doesn't this may cause issues for the school

I take it they weren't married?

[Essaitch57]

No, they were not married

[hc4361]

How old is the child? It is relevant.

[hc4361]

This may clarify the law for you:
A person with parental responsibility for a child can change the child’s name without any special procedure simply by calling the child by the new name. It is not necessary to change the name by Deed Poll. As the child’s mother you automatically have parental responsibility. However, anyone else with parental responsibility will also have to agree to the change of name. Whether or not you would need the consent of your daughter’s biological father will depend on certain factors.

The biological father of a child may have parental responsibility if he:

* Was married to the mother when the child was born;
* For births registered from 1 December 2003 onwards, was registered on the birth certificate as the child’s father.
In some cases a father without parental responsibility could get a court order overturning a change of name if the court decides that the name change is not in the child’s best interest. If objections are raised to the proposed change of name you could apply for a court order approving the new name.

[Buenchico]

When I was teaching nearly one third of all pupils in the school used a different surname to the one on their birth certificate. It's common practice.

However the girl's father has parental responsibility and his permission is required for a 'legal' change in her name. Unlike in many other countries though, in the UK anyone is free to use whatever name they (or their parents) choose for everyday use (as long, of course, as there's no intent to defraud someone by so doing). The girl's mother can, irrespective of the father's permission, call her daughter by whatever name she chooses.

It might be worth advising the girl's mother that unless some form of 'evidence' of a name change can be produced (such as a letter from her GP), the girl will have to be entered for any public examinations she might later take (such as GCSEs) under the name on her birth certificate, which could result in her obtaining certificates in a name other than the one by which she's known.

Relevant links:
http://www.direct.gov...entsrights/dg_4002954
and
http://www.adviceguid...ly/change_of_name.htm

Chris