Changing the child's first and last name if the parents are separated or divorced

By the way: We provide online consultations. Reliable, expert, confidential. More details

By the way: Do you know about ours? More details

When spouses officially end their marriage, the children in most cases remain with the mother, and their father is responsible for paying alimony. At the same time, the ex-wife often experiences obvious hostility towards her ex-husband and gets rid of his last name after the end of the marriage, trying to completely erase the reminder of the unsuccessful relationship. A change in the surname of a child under 14 years of age or later can be caused by other reasons: for example, the dissonance of the surname or a joint decision of the spouses (including former ones) to change it.

But if changing a surname after a divorce is quite common and simple for an ex-wife, then changing a surname for children under 14 years of age or older has a number of features.

Reasons for changing a child's surname

After their parents separate, children often stay with their mother, and she wants her and her children to have the same surname. Such a desire does not arise out of nowhere, just to annoy the ex-spouse, but in connection with reasons that can be considered serious reasons.

The main ones are the following circumstances:

Uncomfortable situations often arise in the family due to the different surnames of the mother and her child. She constantly has to confirm her relationship with him by presenting his birth document along with her passport;
the woman is concerned that in the future the child may have difficulties receiving an inheritance;
When dealing with any legal issues concerning the child, one has to require the participation of the absent father, this causes certain inconvenience. For example, the father’s consent is required to register a child at a new place of residence, but he lives in another region remote from the place of registration of the child;
The reason may also be the dissonant sound of the surname, which causes difficulties when the child communicates with peers;
The fact of deprivation of the father's parental rights can also motivate the mother to change her mind;
the need to change data arises if the mother remarries and the new husband adopts the child.

Important! The child himself can apply to change his surname when he becomes an adult.

Where to contact?

For permission to change the child’s surname, the parent will have to contact one of the following authorities:

to the guardianship and trusteeship authorities;
to the court.

The guardianship authority should be contacted when the child is under 14 years of age and the parent living separately does not object to changing his surname. In some cases, the law may allow a request to change a name to be approved without obtaining the permission of the absent parent.

When contacting this body, you need to take into account that the reasons for changing your last name are of great importance for obtaining permission, which should be stated in the application in as much detail as possible. The emphasis in describing the situation should be on the interests of the child himself.

A large percentage of cases of this kind are considered in court. It is especially often necessary to go there if it is impossible to obtain consent from a parent who does not live with the family. Preferable for applying to this authority is the opportunity to convince the court of the fairness of the demand and to defend the claimed rights on the basis of the evidence presented about the need to change the child’s surname without the participation of the father.

When is it possible to change a surname without the consent of the father?

It is possible to change a child’s surname at the request of one parent, who is usually the mother, in cases where:

the father, without any reason, does not pay the alimony assigned to him during the divorce. Proof of this fact is the provision of payment documents for the transfer of funds for child support, which were absent for six months. The woman can also present copies of claims from executive bodies and decisions imposing administrative punishment on the defaulter;
the father withdrew from raising and participating in the child’s life. The best evidence of this fact can be testimony. To do this, you can involve the family’s close circle: relatives, neighbors and other citizens with whom the family comes into contact. If the reasons listed above exist, the mother may seek to deprive the second parent of the rights to the child;
The father's place of residence is unknown, and all measures taken to find him were unsuccessful. Evidence may include inquiries at the place of his registration, attempts to contact him through relatives;
the child was born out of wedlock. When there is a dash in the “father” column on his birth certificate or he is indicated according to the words of the mother herself, then it can be proven in court that he is not such;
the father was found in court to be incompetent and not aware of his actions. To prove this fact, a medical report and a court decision recognizing the incompetence of the ex-husband will be required.

Without taking into account the father's opinion

The law does not oblige the district guardianship department to follow the decision of the child's father. Specialists only need to find out his opinion. Therefore, a change of surname is possible without the consent of the father.

In some situations, taking into account the father’s opinion is not required at all. Main reasons:

the father is deprived of paternal rights;
the parent does not fulfill his duties or maliciously avoids fulfilling them;
the father is deprived of legal capacity in court.

If one of the listed grounds exists, you will need to provide supporting documentation to the district guardianship department.

If the father is deprived of rights

If a father is deprived of his rights, he loses the right to express an opinion on fundamental issues regarding the child. Including changing his last name.

The issue can be resolved exclusively in court. The initiators of the process can be the child’s mother, the district guardianship department, or the district prosecutor’s office.

The law limits the list of grounds for depriving a citizen of parental rights. Among them are illegal actions committed against a child or his mother.

In the event of a change in children's data after a divorce, the woman must submit to the guardianship department a court decision on deprivation of the father's rights, which has entered into legal force. If a change in data is intended for a child over 14 years of age, the document is submitted to the district registry office.

Failure to fulfill parental responsibilities

In the event of parental divorce, a citizen living separately from the child must exercise his parental rights and responsibilities in full. One of the responsibilities is financial support for a minor.

Father's incapacity

If the father is deprived of legal capacity in court, then he does not have the right to express his opinion in government bodies. In this case, a woman can attach a court decision declaring her incompetent to the documents for changing her child’s surname.

Important! If there is a court decision, the father's opinion will not be taken into account.

Changing the child's surname to the surname of the mother's new husband

After separation, former spouses can create new families. If the child’s mother remarried and took the surname of her second husband, then, as a rule, she wants the whole family to have the same surname and strives to transfer the child to the stepfather’s surname. She also has the right to obtain permission from the guardianship authorities, if only her own father gives consent. At the same time, he will retain all rights and obligations in relation to the child, and he will continue to be listed as his father according to documents.

If the new husband decides to adopt a child, having received the consent of the natural father, then the child will change to the surname of the new husband on the basis of adoption. At the same time, he will have a new not only last name, but also a patronymic corresponding to the name of the new parent. The biological father will legally lose all rights and obligations regarding the child.

Is it possible to change the middle name of a minor?

With a change of patronymic, things are more complicated. Before the children reach the age of 14, this cannot be done, even in cases where the father has given notarized consent. An exception is allowed only if the person has changed his name.

Starting from the age of 14, a minor can change any personal information: not only last name or first name, but also patronymic. The issue is regulated by the first part of Article 58 of Federal Law No. 143-F3.

After changing your personal data, you must remember to notify the clinic, school, kindergarten, clubs, sections and other institutions. Automated transmission of such information is not provided.

Features of changing a surname depending on the age of the child

According to the procedure established by law, children born in marriage are assigned the surname of one of the parents. If, after registering a marriage, a couple decides to have the same last name, then the child they have is given their common last name. If the spouses left their previous surnames after marriage and they are different, then the child is assigned the surname of one of the parents by mutual consent. It can be left either in the mother's surname or the father's. True, sometimes he becomes the bearer of a double surname, consisting of maternal and paternal, written with a hyphen. But this is rare and not entirely convenient.

Parents can change their child's surname at will only until the child turns 14 years old. When he reaches the age of 10 years, his desire to change his surname must also be taken into account.

When a child turns 14 years old, he becomes a full citizen of the state with his own passport. Therefore, it is possible to change the mother’s actual surname without the participation of the guardianship authorities. However, permission for this procedure from the parents must still be submitted to the registry office.

The exception is the emancipation of a teenager aged 16 to 18 years. Then he will have the right to independently apply to the registry office with an application to change his parental surname. He is not required to obtain permission from them. But he will have to prove his capacity to provide for himself and be independent from adults. Evidence can be certificates from the place of work, a copy of the work record book or the statutory documents of the entrepreneur.

Is it possible to change a child’s middle name and how to do it?

The child's middle name is provided based on the father's name. But over time, some parents think about changing it. This may be due to the cacophony of the patronymic or in connection with the adoption of a minor by an adoptive father.

With father's consent

If mom and dad agree to change the middle name, then the procedure is carried out according to the established rules. It is no different from the standard procedure for changing a surname.

Without agreement

Changing your middle name without your dad's permission is possible only if:

the child's coming of age;
after a man is declared incompetent or missing (dead);
it is unknown where he is at the moment;
if the court deprived a man of parental rights.

To carry out the procedure, it is necessary to submit papers to the registry office.

Below is a sample permission to change your last name.

Procedure for changing a surname when a child is under 14 years old

The mother usually takes the initiative to change her surname because her children remain with her. She should do the following:

To obtain your spouse’s consent to change the child’s data, it is better to come to the guardianship authorities for permission together with your husband. If he does not want to participate in the process personally, but gives the go-ahead, then his consent must be in writing and confirmed by a notary;
come to the guardianship authority to find out what documents will be required to resolve the issue;
submit an application to the guardianship authority requesting permission to change the surname of your son (daughter). Attach copies of the collected documents and permission from the child’s father to the application. If the spouse objects to changing the child’s data, then it will be difficult to obtain permission through the guardianship authority, and it is better to go straight to court;
If the child is over 10 years old, then his written consent is required to change his surname.

The list of main documents includes:

the application itself for permission to change the surname (a sample can be obtained from the guardianship authority);
passport of the applying parent and a photocopy of the main pages of the document;
the child’s birth certificate, as well as its photocopy;
a certificate from the housing department or the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the registration address of the applying parent and child.
Certificate of divorce of parents and its photocopy;
written consent of the child to change the surname (if he is 10 years old).

Other documents relating to specific family circumstances may also be required.

If it was not possible to obtain permission from the guardianship authorities without the consent of the father, then you will have to apply to the court. It must state the reason why permission was not obtained from the guardianship authority. To justify the reason for the lack of the father’s consent to change the child’s data, documentary evidence of the facts specified in the application must be presented. It would be a good idea to invite witnesses to the hearing if the reason why the father’s consent can be ignored requires it. Usually, in the interests of the child, the court accommodates the applicant and issues permission.

If you receive a court order or permission from the guardianship authorities, it must be presented to the registry office to register a new surname and obtain a new birth certificate.

Birth of a child

For the status of a newborn, in particular, determining what surname he will bear, it is of great importance whether he was born in or out of wedlock. In the first case, he will immediately have a father, and when registering at the registry office, they immediately look for this. In the second, the father will need to recognize him as his own, and the status differs depending on whether this recognition is made or there is a court order in this regard - accordingly, he will not always be able to bear his father’s surname.

The procedure for assigning a surname to a newborn

Every child has the right to a first name, patronymic and last name. Officially, they are assigned to the baby when registering the birth with the civil registry office (upon receipt of a birth certificate).

The issue of assigning a surname to a child is legally regulated by the Family Code of the Russian Federation and Federal Law No. 143 “On Acts of Civil Status”. These documents state that the child bears the surname of his parents. However, exactly whose last name can be given to a newborn depends on a number of circumstances.

Married

When getting married, there are four options for creating the surnames of spouses:

Traditional - the wife takes her husband's surname.
Reverse – the husband takes his wife’s surname; it can be used, for example, if the woman’s surname is more euphonious, and the man himself wanted to change his, or it could be a requirement of his wife’s family, which he agrees to agree to.
No change - for both spouses it remains the same.
Connecting two surnames with a hyphen.

This choice is important for what surname the baby will bear in the future, because if he appears in an officially registered union, there will be no questions about who his parents are, and his surname must match theirs. If it is common, then there is no choice, but if the spouses wear different ones, he can get any of them.

Note!

A special case is adoption from an orphanage. In this case, the full name of the adoptee changes.

Outside of marriage

If the baby was born out of wedlock, the child's surname depends on establishing paternity. If it is established, the choice will be the same as at birth in marriage - he can be given the surname of either parent. But if paternity is unknown, he will in any case bear his mother’s name. Then it can be changed if paternity can be proven in court.

Establishing paternity is important because even a child born outside the family, if his relationship with his father is proven, will have all the same rights as a legitimate child. Both parents will also have to bear responsibility for it and participate in its provision, which is usually expressed in the obligation to pay child support for the parent living separately.

If the mother is unmarried

The birth of a baby does not always become a sufficiently significant reason for entering into an official marriage - according to statistics, the percentage of children born outside of marriage is steadily growing. When registering such a child, you will need to take into account several important details:

If maternity is established at birth and its confirmation is simple, then with paternity outside of marriage the situation is more complicated - in order for the father to be included in the birth certificate, he must submit an application recognizing the baby as his own. If this is not done, the entry may be made by court order.
If a marriage was previously registered between the parents, then even after the divorce, when less than 300 days have passed since the divorce, the ex-husband will be considered the father of the newborn only if he cannot prove that this is not the case. Likewise, in the event of his death, only his relatives will have the right to challenge paternity.
In both of these cases, until paternity can be successfully challenged, the child will have the right to the father’s surname - in the first case, the parents decide which one he will wear (if they cannot agree, they need to contact the guardianship authorities), in the second - everything is decided Mother.
Proving paternity can be quite difficult if the baby's father died before he was born, and the parents were not married. It is carried out through the court, and indications of cohabitation, testimony of witnesses and other facts will be considered. If paternity can be proven, the child will receive the same rights as other children of the deceased, including bearing the appropriate full name and inheriting from him.

One way or another, in any of the cases under consideration - that is, if the baby was born outside of a marriage, regardless of other circumstances, the mother has the right to give him her last name, here, on the contrary, the right to bear it after the father will be controversial.

It is also worth noting that if the father of a newborn does not want to recognize him, and this has to be done through the court, it would be better for the woman to still give him hers. This way, in some cases, it is easier to draw up documents, because it is not for nothing that the question of changing her for the child is raised so often after a divorce.

Be sure to read it! Preparatory part of the court session

In case of divorce

Let's consider another situation, how a surname will be assigned if a child is born after the divorce of the spouses.

Suppose the child was conceived in a legal marriage, but was born after a divorce. What does the law say about this? According to paragraph 2 of Art. 48 of the RF IC, when a child is born within 300 days after a divorce, the child’s father is considered to be the ex-husband. Consequently, the child will be registered under his last name.

Important: The father's surname is given to the child in cases where the marriage was annulled or the spouse died, if no more than 300 days have passed since these events.

Change of surname when the child reaches the age of 14 years

From the age of 14, a child can put forward demands and apply to the registry office, bypassing the guardianship authorities, if he has parental consent. If the father or mother does not consent to this procedure, then it is necessary to seek permission in court when there is indisputable evidence of facts that give the right to ignore the opinion of the dissenting parent. They were mentioned earlier.

When applying to the registry office or court, the application should indicate:

your last name, first name and patronymic, citizenship and nationality;
details of the child’s passport, or birth certificate if the passport has not yet been received;
registration address;
the surname to which he expressed a desire to change his own, existing according to the documents;
reasons for its change. When applying to the registry office, the basis should be indicated - the permission of the parents or, if you had to go to court, then a court decision. When applying to the court, you should state the reasons that give you the right to obtain permission without the consent of the parent.

After receiving the court decision, you need to contact the registry office to make an entry about the change in the child’s surname in the unified register of civil status acts and issue a certificate of change of surname indicating the new one. Next, you need to obtain a new passport at the Ministry of Internal Affairs office at your place of residence. According to the law, documents must be submitted to change your old passport no later than a month from the moment when the entry was made in the register by the civil registry office.