Am I supposed to have re-reisterd the birth of my DC after my marriage???

[Queenofcake]

Have 2 DC 13 (almost 14) and 11. Both born out of marriage when me and now DH lived in sin. Both DC born and registered in Scotland. DH as the father on birth cert.

Married in 2002 (also in Scotland) when the youngest was 18 months old. At the same registrar office as the births were registerd.

We have lived all over the UK and are currently in Wales. Someone just told me that by law I should have re-registerd the kids births within 1 year of getting married.

I have never heard of this before. Is this right?? Why do you need to do this when the dad remains the same on birth cert and they were registerd in their fathers surname (my married surname) from birth anyway?

If this is the case - will I be introuble for not doing it for 10 years??? And does the fact I am now in Wales make any difference?? And where would I go to do this (Scotland is a long way from here).

Anyone able to advise me please.

Yes you are supposed to because by marrying you are 'legitimising'any children born outside of marriage and the birth register needs to be corrected as a result. However, I married my ds's father 12 years ago and have never re-registered his birth. Nothing bad has happened so far but if anyone comes on this thread and tells me I will be in Lots of Trouble then I will remedy the situation!!

really? i never knew this either!

Glad its not just me that has been living in ignorance about this

Would the fact they have not been legitimised have any effect in the case of divorce???

I knew if you registered them in the woman's name and then you marry the child's father within a year of birth you can re-register and change the baby's surname for free.

I don't know what the benefits of "legitimising" would be, surely that's outdated now anyway? The father gets PR if he's there with you to register, and nobody cares these days if your parents were married at the time of your birth or not.

The child is automatically legitimised by the marriage, regardless of whether or not the birth is re-registered.

You are required to re-register the birth within 3 months of getting married (Legitimacy Act 1976 s9). The fine for not doing so is £2! I'm sure that has you quaking in your boots...

My mum didn't re register me. I could apply to have it done. But my friend's registrar did it all when they were doing the marriage schedule.

When we married, the registrar told us to re-register our first DC's birth. She said that if he we had further children whilst married, and died without making a will, our first child would be disadvantaged.

We haven't as yet, no one said anything about us 'having to within a year'

As per my last post, the law requires you to do it within 3 months of getting married, not a year. However, as the penalty is only a £2 fine if you are convicted, I doubt anyone is going to bother enforcing this particular law.

And I can't see why your first child woud be disadvantaged. They have been legitimised regardless of whether or not you re-register the birth. If you are both named on the current birth certificate there would be no dispute as to parentage.

Well, I don't know. That's what we were told, and told again by a second registrar upon the registration of our second child so there must be something in it. Both names are on our first DC's cert.