She wants to change her name, has anyone done this?

[tan32]

My DD has asked me to get her surname changed.

I have remarried and her 2 brothers have my married name. My Dh has been with us since DD was 2yrs old. She will be 12 in a couple of weeks.

Anyhow she really wants to change her surname. She has had no contact with her father for the last 3 to 4 yrs when he just stopped coming around to pick her up.
According to Child support he has disappeared of the planet.

So I have been looking at how to change her name here in SA. It seems if one of the parents is deceased or missing then we have to go to the Magistrate courts and put her plea forward for changing her surname. Since she is 12 she has to come along as well.

so has anyone done this before ? She is very determined this is what she wants to do and as soon as possible.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

I haven't done it but i hope it all goes well, if it's what she wants then i'm sure a court will understand completely... GL with it all.

[BrightSparkles]

I've done it but in NSW. I was 19 when I did it because my bio. father wouldn't sign the forms. It was just a matter of filling out a form with the births, deaths and marriages office and doing an interview. I also had to provide heaps of evidence to say i'd been using my mums remarried name for some time e.g school records, letters of support etc.
Feel free to PM me if you want more info.

[*Efjay*]

I did this when I was about your DD's age also. I think to start with Mum just wrote a letter to my high school saying I wanted to be known by mums maiden name from now on. So basically from the age 12/13 till I was 16, I was known as "mums maiden name" Then when it came time for my licence I had it done properly. I had already been suing it for a long time, I had my TFN as that name also. So really all I had to do was fill in a form & take it to the registry & pay the fee. I didn't have a birth certificate only a birth extract so when I did all this I got an official birth certificate also & it has my birth name as my mums maiden name. Doesn't have my dads surname on it all . this was also in NSW.

I would start with changing her name at school & just leave it at that until she starts to need official documents when she gets a little older. Mum wrote something like the want of the name change was to do with the breakdown of the marriage between my Mum & Dad. Even though that happened when I was 6 months old.

eta - at no point was my dad contacted/informed or needed for me to change it.

[smiles4u]

I've done it but in NSW. I was 19 when I did it because my bio. father wouldn't sign the forms. It was just a matter of filling out a form with the births, deaths and marriages office and doing an interview. I also had to provide heaps of evidence to say i'd been using my mums remarried name for some time e.g school records, letters of support etc.
Feel free to PM me if you want more info.

WOW i must have had it easy as i also changed my surname at 19 but didn't need my parents consent (?), it was legal for me to do it on my own from 18, ... i just walked into one office on one side of the city and then another office on the other and 3hrs and $53 later my surname was changed ... but that was back in 1985, lol

[Astrolady]

My Nephew did it, but I think he was a bit older maybe 16. He had to go to court to do it as well and he had to state why he wanted his name changed. I don't know the finer details like costs etc. But he did get his request approved. He was in same position dad walked out when he was 2 and wanted nothing to do with him. He is an only child so didn't have the sibling scenario to present either.

[*Efjay*]

ON the sibling thing. I was the youngest of 3 & only I changed my name. It really wasn't any issue at all. its interesting reading how different it has been for others.

[HotI]

My sister was able to hyphenate her name legally without her birth mum's permission, so had two surnames and then just used one of her surnames at school and most other places. When she reached 18, she could legally drop one of them and now just has one surname.

[Persephone1]

In order to change her name she either needs both parents consent or an Order from the Court. She shouldn't be appearing in Court herself though - that's for you to do on her behalf. Children are not generally welcome at Family Court hearings.

I'd suggest visiting a family lawyer (SA Legal Aid should give free advice) to get the forms and start the process.

She can always use her preferred surname at school, etc, but it won't be formally changed without a Court Order. Otherwise she can wait until she's 18 and do it herself.

[mako]

I changed my surname on my 18th Birthday. It was my present to myself. I just had to make an appointment with BD&M in NSW and fill in some forms,pay the fee which was about $80 back then it was done. I received a new birth certificate a few weeks later with my new name on it.

Good luck with it all and hope its a simple process for you and your DD

[rhyb]

Wow it seems like a lot to change a last name. Best of luck to you both!
DF wishes the kids had his last name (ds has his dads and DDs have mine) so were hoping when we get married he can adopt DDs (no father on birth cert).
DS is more difficult though cz his bio dad wont let us even though he has nothing to do with DS.

[ladybird11]

I'm not sure how far you would (or not) have to prove you've tried to contact the bio father, whether it be sufficient that sending a reg'd letter to his last known address or if you'd have to do more to prove you have attempted to make contact. I would be interested to know if you find out though...

[Persephone1]

In my experience (family lawyer) you usually need more than a registered letter to the father, but if you don't know where he is then that solves that problem. You would need to swear an Affidavit about when you last saw him, where you think he might be, what you've done to find him, what (if any) his response was, and why you want to change her name.

GL.

[peanutter]

our foster girl did it at 16 or 17 years old ... she just did it through via a deedpoll change of name. I signed a stat dec in support of it, and they called me to speak to me personally ... but I'm not sure whether they wanted to speak to me as hher carer, or as her lawyer.

(she wasn't changing her name to my surname - long complicated and painful story as to why she was changing her name, but she was completely doing the right thing to take care of herself emotionally)

but I second persephone's comments regarding doing an affidavit setting out your efforts to contact her biological father to notify him, and your reasons for thinking that's his last known address.

you just need to satisfy the court that it would have come to his attention, or that you've done everything reasonable to bring it to his attention.

these days, contact can involve email, sms, facebook even, so be creative

and the affidavit can just be in your own words - you don't need to use lawyer-y words for it. just say what you tried and why, what times you phoned, when you posted the letter, etc, and staple a copy of the letter to it.

the registry at the court or your local police station should be able to help you out putting it together, and they also should be can witness the affidavit for you, if you don't want to incur legal fees for doing it.

HTH

[tan32]

Well I thought that I would update you all.

Friday we went to court after filling the application with the courts in early December.
I had to sign an affidavit stating that We had tried to locate her father and that we couldnt.

My DD came to court with me as she is 12 they wanted to talk to her as well.
The magistrate was great, he closed the court and made her feel comfortable, he asked me several questions then basically asked DD if she knew what it meant and if she wanted to do it, he also asked her about school etc.

SO as of yesterday her surname has been officially changed and she is rapt.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Thats great hun, saw that on FB.. she must be so pleased.

[Lisa]

Great news!!! How much did it all cost in the end?

My DS1 & DD1 have hyphenated surnames at the moment and want to drop their fathers name. DS is 17 soon so may wait until he is 18, but DD will want to do it eventually.

[thepixie]

That's great news Tan - I'm glad you were able to get the outcome she wanted