Need to laws on double barrel surnames...

[Sophiemck95]

so I'm due a baby boy very soon, me and his dad arnt on the best of terms, but I don't want to completely eradicate baby's dads surname from my sons surname so I'm thinking of double barrelling it... Here's the catch also, babys dad could possibly soon be serving a lengthy prison sentence...

What laws revolve around double barrelled surnames? Like do I need dads permission to take my son out the country on holiday? Will dad have to sign the birth certificate to have his surname also?

Please don't tell me not to do it, as he is still my sons dad, and I would like him to have some sort of connection to him...

Use his surname as a middle name. Don't put it anywhere his legal surname.

If the baby's dad is on the birth certificate I think you do end up needing his permission to take him out of the country. Makes it a lot harder to go on holiday without the father if you have different surnames.

My friend does get stopped a lot when returning from holiday and questioned as her DS has her ex's surname. She travels with his birth certificate etc and she has residency so takes those papers with her too.

I second a pp use his surname as a middle name.

If your not married and live in the UK you can't add his name without him being there at the registration of birth not sure about special circumstances of he's in prison though

misscarlar means you can't add his name in the 'Fathers name' section without him being there. You can use the fathers surname as your child's middle name if you want to, whether the father is at the registration or not.

If I want married (possibly just in a very strong, long relationship) with the father then I would leave the 'fathers name' section blank. The piece of paper will never be of any use to you and could be damaging. If you ever want him recognised as the father you can do that without a birth certificate.

If he's on the birth certificate he has automatic parental rights. That means he can collect the child from nursery/school whenever he likes, and without a court order the school can't stop him. It means he could apply for a passport for the child without you knowing. He can make it very hard for you to leave the country with the child.

IMO all the "a baby deserves to know who his dad is" rubbish is so dangerous. You can tell the baby who his dad is; you don't need a piece of paper to do it for you!

You can call your baby whatever you want - and baby's name is not important in terms of parental responsibility.

What gets put in the 'Fathers name' section is what determines parental responsibility (and so gives the father automatic rights without having to apply to a court to award him those rights).

Ok, unless you're married then the father has to be present to put his name on the birth certificate.

If you're worried about him in anyway shape or form, don't do this.

Double barrell his surname fine, you can give your child any surname you like you could give him Chips-Gravy as his surname if you wanted it doesn't automatically give the father rights.

But protect yourself and your child, especially if he's facing time in prison.

Good luck.

There's no need to double-barrel your sons name for him to have a relationship with his father.

I wouldn't and I wouldn't add him to the birth certificate either.

If a relationship develops - prison seems likely to make this hard - then he'll know his father regardless.

You don't need permission from the father to take your son on holiday, but you would need it to relocate to another country. Unless you got a family court order. Thats if he is on the birth certificate and has parental rights.

I agree that having it as a middle name would be a good option.

If babies dad is on BC he will need to be present, that also gives him rights over the child. It also means he has to pay child support. If he can't be present at the signing of the BC I believe he can be added on at a later date and this can be done over the post. If he's not on the BC he has absolutely no right to the chil, so he can't say no to you going on holiday with him etc.
If you go on holiday you may have issues depending on where you go if your surnames differ. This can depend on airlines. You can normally get round this be either a letter from the other parent - may need to be signed by a solicitor and the child's BC. This may change significantly in the next 18 years, so you may encounter problems that currently don't exist.
Why don't you use his surname as a middle name so if you wanted to call baby Daniel jones and your exs surname is smith have it as Daniel smith jones. Plenty of people do this, so it's certainly not uncommon. It also stops the annoying decision of which name goes first .

If baby's father needs to be present if you're not married, how come they don't ask to see a marriage certificate when you register baby?

I'm not disputing it, just a bit surprised by all these rules.

I've also never travelled with DH, it's always just me and DS. He has a different name from a different language/culture, but I've never been asked for anything. I always have BC and MC though.

You can give your DC contact and a relationship with their Dad. Great if that works well.

If you manage to put the dad on Birth Cert, the choice as to future contact has now been taken out of your hands. Think very carefully.

Please don't give him the surname of a father who has no interest in him.

(Not saying that is the case as you haven't specified, but if it is be aware of it)

Your baby has a whole load of DNA from his father. If you're the one doing all/most of the care (and you're not at risk of a prison sentence) give the baby your name and don't put him on the birth certificate. He can have PR by agreement later if he's any good.