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hi chaps
my son has my surname and im obv registered as the father on his birth cert, can my ex change his surname to hers without my permission?
cheers
not without your permission, or a court order (which is unlikely). Is this something she has said she is going to do?
Hi Karltay,
I believe that, whether or not your consent is required in order to change his name will depend on whether you have Parental Responsibility.
You will have Parental Responsibility if;
- You and your ex were married at the time your son was born or married any time after that;
- If you are registered as his father on the birth certificate and he was born after 1/12/2003;
- If you have entered into a Parental Responsibility Agreement with the mother, which was on the prescribed form and witnessed by court officials, then filed at the Principal Registry;
- You have been to court and been granted a Parental Responsibility Order or Residence Order at any time.
If you have Parental Responsibility in any of these ways, then your consent would generally be required in order to change your son's surname.
I can ask the Children's Legal Centre to have a look at this and see if they can add any further info for you.
Gooner
Oops, I made an assumption that you are/were married - thanks Gooner for giving full information. 😀
Dear Karltay,
Thank you for contacting the Children’s Legal Centre.
Whether or not the mother of your son can change their surname is dependent upon whether or not you have parental responsibility. The mother automatically has parental responsibility; however you may or may not.
You have mentioned that your name is on your son’s birth certificate. If your son’s birth was registered before the 1 December 2003 and you were not married to the mother you may only acquire parental responsibility if you make a parental agreement with the mother, a parental responsibility order or a residence order.
Alternatively, if you son’s birth was registered on or after the 1 December 2003 you automatically have parental responsibility on signing the birth register jointly with the mother.
If upon reading the above you do have parental responsibility, you will have exactly the same rights and responsibilities as the mother. In order for her to change your son’s surname she would need your consent to do this. If you do not consent and she still wishes to change your son’s surname then she would need to obtain a court order permitting her to do so. However, the court will only consider a change of surname if it is in the child’s best interests. It can happen but is dependent on each situation. On the other hand if you do not have parental responsibility then she can change your son’s name without your consent.
If you wish to obtain parental responsibility then you would need to apply for a parental responsibility order, you can do this on form C1 which can be obtained from your local county court or from www.hmcs.gov.uk and there is guidance on this application which can be found in forms CB1 and CB3. Once completed you need to lodge this form at the Family Proceedings Court closest to your son’s home with the fee of £200.
I hope the information above addresses your concerns.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us on our free advice line if further advice is needed 0808 8020 008.
Kind regards
Children’s Legal Centre
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