Change of Surname

[Larrythelamb84]

Does anyone have any experience of changing your child's surname when the absent father is on the birth certificate?

My daughter has asked for years to change (no contact with her dad since she was 3 - now almost 10), and I've kind of out it off. She is who she is, everyone knows her by her name, she dances competitively and has her name on certificates etc, so I've tried to make her see that it's her identity and not to marred by a surname.

Two years ago we went to Cyprus, and we were taken to one side at the airport where we were both questioned about whether or not she was my daughter. I got a bit of a talking to about not taking her birth certificate. Anyway, we are due to fly out again, and my daughter has remembered the awful experience and the change of name has again reared it's head. Her passport is due to expire next spring, so it would be an ideal time to change her name, but how do I go about it? I don't have any contact with her Dad, if anything, it's quite bitter at the moment due to CSA issues so I really wouldn't want to have a conversation with him. If I got an intermediary to speak to him, or even write to him to ask permission, would that be enough for the passport office to allow a change?

I have a friend whose dd wants to change her name as he has pr it has to go to court. I would go to see a solicitor

Your child's name can be changed only with the consent of everyone who has parental responsibility, or via court order. Guidance is here

www.gov.uk/change-name-deed-poll/change-a-childs-name

So you will have to week consent from him. If he gives it, it is very simple. If he doesn't, you would need to apply to the court for a specific issues order. The fact that he has no relation ship no contact with his daughter would be a strong consideration for the court, as would the fact that you're doing this for real, practical reasons based on your experiences travelling abroad. So you would probably stand a good chance of having the order granted

Not sure about how you go about it but I did read there was a stated case where a father opposed the changes surname and wanted his child to have it changed back to his surname. What they said was because the mother had kept his surname in the full name as a nod to the child’s parentage as well as the new surname (mothers) the court allowed child’s name to remain as the changed surname because the dads surname was still in there.
Hope this makes sense x