Tribunal Decides On Baby’s Surname After Her Parents Fight Over Whose Surname She Should Take

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has stepped in to decide a baby girl’s surname after her parents couldn’t agree over whose surname she should take.

The baby’s parents, who are separated, have agreed on her first and middle names, but each of them wanted her to have their surname.

In a decision in May, the Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages decided to give the baby her surname which is a hyphenated version comprising both of her parents’ surnames.

However, the parents, who cannot be named for legal reasons, argued and challenged the decision in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The mother revealed that her relationship with the baby’s father was long distance and that it did not last long, ending early in her pregnancy. She told the tribunal that the father didn’t give much importance to his relationship with his daughter, had not financially supported her and only visited her thrice since she was born last January.

She said that the father only wanted her daughter to carry his surname as a sense of pride in passing on his family name.

She also added that it would be emotionally difficult and confusing for her daughter to carry her father’s name, which would lead to her being teased later on.

However, the father explained that his daughter should carry his name, because it connected her to him, his family and her heritage. He told the tribunal that he would love to see his daughter more often, but was limited due to his interstate responsibilities.

Giving his ruling in the case, VCAT senior member Ian Proctor decided that it was in the girl’s best interest to take her mother’s name, given that the baby is living with the mother and only had few visits from the father. “This will likely reduce potential confusion for the child as to identity, particularly if the father proves to be an absent parent,” he said.

In his ruling earlier this month, Mr Proctor also did not include the father’s surname as the baby’s third given name since the baby will have a name of a person “who is a stranger to her”. “There unfortunately seems a real possibility that once the issue of the child’s name is settled, he will have very little contact,” he said. “Therefore, the correct and preferable decision is not to include the father’s surname as part of the child’s name.”

Mr Proctor said that the child may change her name as a young adult. “Assuming the parents agreed with such a wish, the child’s name as registered on her birth certificate could be changed at that point in time, or by the daughter’s choice by deed poll,” he said.

Source: Essentialbaby.com.au