Which name is now their legal surname?

balletshoes

Mojisola wrote: »

The Legitimacy Act wouldn't apply in your case as the children's father is on the birth certificate.

If the parents are unmarried, the father has to attend (or fill in the relevant legal forms) for his name to be put on the BC. Not all unmarried fathers could or would do this. If the parents later married, the law makes provision for the BCs to be changed, making the children legitimate and therefore legal heirs of the father.

Incidentally, any children born while the woman is married are assumed to be children of the marriage (regardless of whether her husband was the father) and so his legitimate heirs, unless another man allows himself to be named on the BC.

If there was no father listed on the BCs, it would be worth getting the certs changed.

thats very well explained I think. My DD's dad (my OH) wasn't on her birth certificate when she was originally registered (he wasn't in the country so couldn't attend to register her birth and the notary stuff in his absence was just more red tape), but after we got married we had her birth certificate changed.

peachyprice

Interesting indeed.

That would stop a few grumpies calling the offspring of their unmarried children/granschildren b******s. (sorry to be crude, but you know the kind of people I mean)

At least we now know it's a £2 fine for not re-registering!

cheepskate_2

op, dont change it by deed poll as there is no need.....and also they will always have to put down "other names know by".

If you are now married to dad, you just re-registar it at the registar office and it will then be a legal document and they will not need to refer to their previous names.

Toomuchdebt

When I had my last 2 babies I was told by the registrar that if we subsequently married then I had to change the certificates too.

no-oneknowsme

I married my Husband (who is father to all of my 3 kids) when they were 2 , 4 + 7.

All kids had my surname before our marriage and when we married we simply went to the register office and got new birth certificates for all the kids which included OH's details and the kids new surnames.