Hi,
I'm trying to post this again. I'm trying to change my children's last name and my youngest child's middle name. They are ages 3 and 1. Their father was abusive to me, he was aggressive verbally to the children. He put their welfare at risk and he assaulted me (sexually) last year, one of my children was asleep in the same room at the time. Both children were in the house. He has not seen the children in over a year, nor has he asked about them, despite bail conditions stating that he can. I was not married to him at the time of their birth certificate, but he is on their birth certificates. The children see no one in his family, they have no relationship with him or anyone in his family. He has been charged for his crime last year and there will be a trial next year. That's a very basic bit of background.
I have written a position statement, but obviously I have to prove as to why it benefits the children to have their names changed. He showed up to the first hearing, probably because it looks bad on him if he didn't for the trial (due to things stated after what he did, I won't elaborate more but it involved not seeing the children if I didn't go to the police). They'll discuss and make a decision in a few months, which will be around 2 hours in court.
I guess I'm looking for any success stories regarding this and also, if anyone has any ideas on how I can show that it benefits the children to change their name. Obviously I've stated that I don't want the children linked back to him if he is found guilty at trial, due to the nature of the crime and him going to prison. My children are very close with my family, they do not have any contact with my ex's family, nor did they have a relationship with them before. They barely saw the children and didn’t bother to meet my eldest until he was over a year old. He met them maybe 3 or so times. No relationship there. They won't change the children's name without good reason and I don't quite know how best to give these answers. I know in my head what they are but it's writing it down that's the issue. Any success stories?