advice regarding name on birth certificate and rights

ricflairandy

Hi all,

Wondering if anyone could hel pme out with the following

If a man wanted his name on his 2 year old sons birth certificate, but the mother of the child is refusing as she thinks it will effect her benefits. Where would the man stand legally on this?

CIS

The name on a birth certificate wont affect the benefits she receives.

NASA_2

CIS wrote: »

The name on a birth certificate wont affect the benefits she receives.

While true to quite a large extent there are circumstances when a name on a Birth Cert can tell the Benefits Office something they didnt know before. I'll say no more than that.

System

ESA wrote: »

While true to quite a large extent there are circumstances when a name on a Birth Cert can tell the Benefits Office something they didnt know before. I'll say no more than that.

True. It tells the CSA who to pursue for child maintenance if the mother is claiming benefits such as Income Support. Ultimately it shouldn't affect her benefits but the father, providing he's in employment and not on benefits himself, would be relieving the taxpayer of the burden of helping to pay for his child.

Zara33

Pam17 wrote: »

True. It tells the CSA who to pursue for child maintenance if the mother is claiming benefits such as Income Support. Ultimately it shouldn't affect her benefits but the father, providing he's in employment and not on benefits himself, would be relieving the taxpayer of the burden of helping to pay for his child.

CSA only persue the NRP nowadays if the PWC wants this to happen, gone are the days that the PWC must name the father or their benefit gets reduced.

AsknAnswer

Legally you have no rights. If you aren't named on the birth certificate and have not been awarded parental rights then you have no legal right in regard to this. You can take the matter to court but it is highly unlikely that they would order the alteration of the birth certificate, although they may grant you parental rights and responsibility if the mother does not contest that you are the father of the child. If she does contest it, the court may ask her to allow DNA testing to be performed. If she refuses the DNA testing the court may order the test.

Benefits will not be altered by a father's name on a birth certificate except that if she chose to claim Child Support, you would have no option but to pay it.

My children's father is named on the birth certificate but has no parental rights whatsoever. He pays CS unwillingly. My children have his surname on the birth certs but do not use this name in any official capacity with the exception of one bank account each. Every official body is aware of the different name and has taken copies of the birth cert. At some point in the future I had planned on changing their birth certs to the surname they do use (my surname) however their father's details would not be removed, he would still be named as their father, and their old name would still appear. It would read for example.....Tom Jones, formerly Smith (Obviously not our real names!). I decided against this in the end, as I felt it was a choice they should make when they are old enough if they want to.

ricflairandy

thanks, the father in question doesnt have a problem with paying for anything, so its more the mother refusing on those grounds thats the problem. He has the child 4 or 5 nights a week as it is, but wants it on more for future security and for the benefit of his child.

cleaning_up

What a horrible situation and it would be a shame if a father's name could not be on his child's birth certificate for such reasons.

I would certainly look into it with a lawyer.

I was in a similar but different situation (if that makes sense) with my son. I wanted his father's name put on his birth certificate, even though he is not part of my son's life. I felt it was in the best interest of my son to have his father's name on his birth certificate, afterall he is not 'unknown' - that way my son can chose when he is of age whether he shall contact his father. He dragged it out as much as possible but in the end I managed to get his name on the certificate! :T

Best of luck!!!

System

Zara33 wrote: »

CSA only persue the NRP nowadays if the PWC wants this to happen, gone are the days that the PWC must name the father or their benefit gets reduced.

I didn't say the PWC's benefits would be reduced I said the CSA may approach the NRP to recoup some of the money the state is paying to the PWC out of the public purse.

AsknAnswer is correct too in that fathers who are named on the birth certificate don't necessarily have any greater parental rights than those not named whether they want them or not.


Edit: just read ricflairandy's post no 7. I think it's lovely for both parents to get on so well and for the NRP to have such a close relationship with the child. I'm not sure that getting the name on the birth certificate will make the arrangement any more secure but getting a bit of legal advice wouldn't hurt.

Zara33

Pam17 wrote: »

I didn't say the PWC's benefits would be reduced I said the CSA may approach the NRP to recoup some of the money the state is paying to the PWC out of the public purse.

But they don't! A PWC/NRP has to get in contact with the CSA before they start this process. Your assuming all PWC's are on benefits

thatsyourlot

Things may have changed over the years but when I had my son (who is 13 ntx month..yikes) this is how I had to proceed

If the parents of the child were not married & not together at the time of the birth, then only mum can register the birth, which is what I did & my son was given my surname. I only had the "short" version of birth cert done & it does not show my sons "dads" details anywhere on it, just has all my sons details.

When my son was 2 yrs old, I met a wonderful man, who I am now married to.

My surname changed when we got married & my son then decided that he would like to have the same surname as me & my hubby (he was 9 at this point). We told the school, docs & dentist that we were changing his surname but my sons passport & bank accounts are under my maiden name.

On any legal forms, I have to put down that my son goes as ***** but I also make a note of the fact that passports etc are still under my maiden name.

Hope that all makes some kind of sense.
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