Changing my dd's surname

[almostsingle]

A horrible question I know but my dp and I split up ages ago and since then he has made no effort to see our dd at all. I have now decided that I was to change her surname so that it is the same as mine. We were not married but he was there when we registered her birth and his name is on her birth certificate which gives her his surname. Has anybody else tried to change their childs surname - is it very difficult? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Just thought - should have said exP not dp - sarcasm doesn't come across in text!

I didnt realise they automatically gave the child the dads name if you werent married, how sexist. Have you asked CAB? they usually know

almostsingle - you won't be able to change it on her birth certificate, sorry. You can call her whatever you like and change it just by use, but to change it 'officially' you would have to do a deed poll.

You can call her whatever you want to call her so long as it isn't for fraudulent purposes. you may have problems with her passport though so I spose you'd better get it done legally eventually.

They don't Fio, you can give baby whatever surname you choose when you register. Most mums give dad's surname if they are not married but 'together' but we always advised mum at the time, that they won't be able to change it back if the couple split.

They don't do it automatically, at the time we both wanted her to have his surname because we were engaged so it seemed the best option.
Luckymum - I thought that was the case but just wanted to check if anyone knew different. DAMN !!

Aother thing to be aware of is; if you get married in the future and plan to change your childs name to your married name (assuming you take partners surname) whilst everyone knows that your partner will have to apply to adopt your daughter - be aware that you will too.

When dd1 was born dh and I were not married, and he was unable to come to register the birth with me, so she had my surname. When we got married about 3 years later, we just changed her name from mine to his. Wrote letters to anyone official saying she was now to be known as x instead of y, and that was it. Was a bit harder changing her passport, as they wanted dh's written permission so that might be a problem for you, but that was the only hitch. You can legally call yourself anythign you like , as long as it is not with intent to defraud.

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An interesting point but maybe not relevant to you but it could be to others- you can change your child's forename within 12 months of birth- all the details are on the back of the birth certificate

lou - if you've married your children's dad you can get the name changed on the birth certificate. You need to ask to 're-register her birth on marriage' and the registrar will do a new entry with the surname change on. And there's no time limit.

I think I was told that , it rings a bell from the depths of my memory!

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