Do I need permission for this?

[Londonborough]

Do I need permission from the father of my dc if I want to add another surname to theirs? Or can I just do it without his knowledge by deedpoll?

|It depends if he has PR or not.

Is he involved in their lives? If so, wildly disrespectful not to regardless of whether it's legal.

If he's on the birth certificate then he has parental responsibility so you'd need permission

Check your court order if you have one. As a standard they forbid you to change the name while the order is active.

My mum changed my name when I was 5. She just changed it when I moved schools. I have always had a fab relationship with dad and he didn’t want to make things awkward at the time.
When I was 14 I reverted back to my proper name. It actually took a long time to forgive my mum for taking my name away. I personally think there have to be very strong reasons, and if dad is still involved then shouldn’t be done.

Why would you want to do that.
As Norma27 points out the child may end up hating you for that.
Parents need to some times think, it not always about you and what you want.

Presumably this is the surname of your new partner?

Well it could also be adding the mother's own name!

Let me elaborate, ex changed his name and removed his proper surname and gave the DCs the new ""surname". Example, ex's old name was George Allen Smith, he removed Smith and just called himself George Allen, when DS was born, ex named him Louis Allen. Ex refuses to use the name Smith, AIBU to add Smith to my DS name? So he is Louis Smith? I just want my DCs to have a proper surname, and not a middle name as surname

Allen is a surname too though! So, it's not even your surname?

From ancestry.co.uk:

English and Scottish: from a Celtic personal name of great antiquity and obscurity. In England the personal name is now usually spelled Alan, the surname Allen; in Scotland the surname is more often Allan. Various suggestions have been put forward regarding its origin; the most plausible is that it originally meant ‘little rock’. Compare Gaelic ailín, diminutive of ail ‘rock’. The present-day frequency of the surname Allen in England and Ireland is partly accounted for by the popularity of the personal name among Breton followers of William the Conqueror, by whom it was imported first to Britain and then to Ireland. St. Alan(us) was a 5th-century bishop of Quimper, who was a cult figure in medieval Brittany. Another St. Al(l)an was a Cornish or Breton saint of the 6th century, to whom a church in Cornwall is dedicated.

Ex refuses to use the name Smith, AIBU to add Smith to my DS name? So he is Louis Smith? I just want my DCs to have a proper surname, and not a middle name as surname

Just any old surname? Their father has changed his name. I can understand you wanting your children to have your surname, but not one your ex USED to use.

I wouldn’t get too hung up on Allen, isn’t it just an illustration?

OP How involved is your ex? Does he have PR?

Allen is a surname though...

And Smith is no longer your ex's surname.

So your child would have a different surname to both his parents, which would be pretty weird.

I take it these aren’t the real names because it seems pointless with those examples.

My married name is a common first name. I am not sure how you define a ‘real’ surname.

Conversely loads of children have “surname” first names eg Taylor, Jackson, Harvey, Jones ( yes I know a childJones ) so does it really matter.

A load of nonsense.

Slightly confused as to why you would take away your children's identities?

You named them. Own it.

I changed my kids names. Asked their dad first. It was fine xx

So they wouldn't share a surname with either parent? That seems a bit

OP why don't you want to double barrel your DC names with your surname and your ex current surname?

That’s just weird, OP. YABVU.

“Smith” is no longer your ex’s name, so you would just be giving your child a random name.

There is no such thing as a “proper” surname.