Passport application

[Kelsar]

Hi,
I am applying to the courts for my son to have my surname on his passport, he has a deed poll with my surname on which we take everywhere with his birth certificate. The passport office wants his father to sign a letter saying that he gives consent for this, this is impossible to me to retrieve as he hasn't been in my son life for over 11 years, makes no financially commitments to him, hasn't sent Christmas or birthday cards or over 11 years and has not attempted to make any contact. I have now found the form which I need to make the application for this to happened but has anyone else gone through this process and can explain to me how it goes and how much the fees are? All help will be much appreciated.

The fact that the passport office is asking for a letter confirming his consent suggests that your son's father has parental responsibility. Assuming you are in England or Wales, he will have PR if you were married at the time of birth or if your son's birth was registered after 1st December 2003 and your ex is named on the birth certificate.

If your son's father has PR the deed poll is invalid. Your son's name is the one on his birth certificate. You are not applying for your son to have your surname on his passport. You are applying for a Specific Issue Order to allow you to change his name.

You must try to agree the name change with your son's father before seeking a court order. If you cannot show the court that you have made reasonable efforts to contact him (including trying to trace him if you don't have an address) and agree the name change they will not grant an order.

The court will only allow the name change if they consider it to be in your son's best interests. In general the courts are very reluctant to allow a child's surname to be changed so I'm afraid your application is unlikely to succeed.

If the father will consent to your son's name change you will have no problems. If he will not I'm afraid you may have to accept that your son's name is the one on his birth certificate and the deed poll you have is worthless.

My answer last night assumed that your son's father has PR. If he does not the passport office have made a mistake. You do not need the father's consent to change your son's name. If that is the situation you should point out the mistake to the passport office. You should not need to go to court to get it sorted out.

If you do need to go to court to change your son's name, your son's father will be the respondent, not the passport office.

Have looked at the family court website, it does state that if there have been several years of no contact, (it's been over 10), I have made efforts to contact him in the beginning, but it isn't an easy situation, there has been no financial commitments and my son has never received a birthday or Christmas card since me and his father separated. My son has used my surname for years and the deed was accepted as it was deemed in his best interest as it was clear that a long time had passed since his father had an active role in his life?

The passport office originally asked my to send them a letter signed by his father will agreement to changing his surname, I have called them and explained that I am unable to find him and that there has been no contact for a long time and the reasons was this has been then case. The lady stated that I would need to go to court and explain the situation and that they may in the best interests of my son change his name to my surname which matches the deed poll and also matches the fact that he has been using this name for quite some time and that he only recognised himself by this name.

I suppose I will have to apply for the specific issue order not only for the name change but also for the right to leave the country with him without a letter from his father, as it is quite clear he doesn't want anything to do with him and I don't see why my son should suffer and not have a holiday because of a situation he really as a baby at the time had no control over.

There must have been a few cases like this? Surely

You should have no trouble getting an order allowing you to take your son out of the country provided you have made serious efforts to locate your son's father (.e.g. engaging an investigator) and have failed to find him, or you have found him but he has not responded, or he has refused consent. Just as with changing your son's name, you will not get an order if you don't first make serious attempts to get his father's consent.

Changing your son's name is another matter. I think you will struggle to get the courts to agree to that.

When you say the deed was accepted, who accepted it? If you mean you paid for a deed poll online and the company providing it issued it on that basis, I'm afraid their view has no legal standing at all. I have little time for these companies. Most of them are happy to issue worthless pieces of paper provided they get paid. The courts have been clear that official bodies (schools, doctors, etc.) should not accept a change of name for a child unless everyone with PR has consented to the change or there is a court order allowing the change.

But what if it is deemed too dangerous to contact him? The reasons why I left were complicated and serious.

I sometimes get very frustrated that it is down to the mother to do all this chasing when he did if he really cared and wanted involvement he could contact me or atleast find me. Although I have moved due to work/career/house etc I am still traceable and none of my family have moved so he could have sent cards etc there.

Hi. Sorry and in relation to do I know where the father is. No I have no idea. I have not seen, spoke or heard from him in over 10 years.

Your comments suggest he is not that dangerous. After all, you say you are still traceable and comment that he has not attempted to make contact, which does not sound like you are frightened that he might do so. Even if he is dangerous you can still contact him through a third party.

I will apply through the courts and see what they say.
Understandable I may not be able to change my child's surname but I do to overall speak to them about me taking my son abroad without a letter from his Father.

Thank you for all your comments.

In relation to foreign travel, what you need is a Child Arrangements Order, specifying the child lives with you.

That has two benefits, first, you can take him abroad for up to 28 days without an order or consent, and second, if you make a will appointing a guardian, that appointment will take effect immediately on your death (orherwise, such an appointment only takes effect if both parents are dead).

Thank you.
Do I apply for that using the C100 form?

Yes.

Thank you for all your help.

Good new today. So very happy.
Thank you for all your help and comments.