General Chat

when the head of the family changed their name was it automatic that the children would change ...?
ive documentation for my grandfather but none for my dad and his brother ..
ive birth certificates for my dad and his brother... this surname was changed by heresay ....was it then legal later for the other members of the family to have documentation too? this has baffled me for years and need to know...?
sam

Weddinghairspecialist

When my husband changed the spelling of his surname the children had to have their names changed at the same time. If not they keep the surname as it was.
In our case many years later we learnt that the family my then husband came from each had a slightly different spelling either by choice or because this was the way they were registered. Trying to trace their family is a nightmare!!

Happy hunting

I understand that one can change a surname simply by usage. This was a surprise to me but have been told by a legal friend that this is not illegal.

thanks for the replys peeps...
i know you can call yourself anything you like....but was trying to find documentation for my dad and his brother ....

if my granfather had to officially then would it not follow for the children to have paperwork?

kind regards sam

I'm glad that you asked this question as it made me look at the birth registration for a distant family member whose grandfather changed the family surname for him, his wife and then only child.
Subsequent children were registered in the new surname.



When the baby of that 1st child was born,the registrar must have asked the parents if they had ever been known by any other name because that child has 10 entries on the index in various combinations of the surnames.
The index numbers show that the entries are logged under 2 different numbers.

Gwyn

i thought that if you changed childrens names from birth names ...does it not require paperwork??
confused . com!!
lol
regards sam

because as life went on and my dad married my mam it was still in the changed name and not the birth name....
sam

so some were there is paper work.... i will have to dig abit more...
sam x

I'm not 100% that the man who changed his name also had paperwork for his wife and child or if they just became known by his surname.

I think you can marry in a name that you are usually known by, even if it's not a birth name.

Man above had surname (let's call it A, which is what he used at marriage to Miss B.,,,,, they were Mr and Mrs A, with baby A

Man changed his surname to C, wife was Mrs C and they had baby who became. C
Later children born to them had surname C.

Parents divorced, mother remarried and children with surname C then took surname of new husband D

Daughter married using surname D, which was not her father's birth name, nor his later surname, but was the surname she was known by.

.......... and I thought my JONES and DAVIES would be my most difficult to follow !!

Gwyn

or smith....and so on......lol ...

my dad and his brother were born after the name change...so wouldnt there be paperwork ?
sam x

i thought as you can call yourelf anything you like when it comes to legal transactions and signing legal documents you had to use your real birth name....
awww gosh...
help!
sam

I know someone who met a chap and they had a baby together. She was known by his surname.
They decided to marry, so the registration looks like 2 related family members married each other, because the surnames were the same.

Gwyn

i appreciate your help...
sam x

I met and married my first husband and had 2 children.Sadly, first husband died.

A few years later I met and married my present husband and had a child.

Older children wanted to change their surname to that of my present husband. I thought that they would regret this in laterlife so discouraged any legal change, either by deed poll or adoption but said they could do it when they were older if they still wanted to.

Both became known by my husbands surname including banks, doctors etc but in schoolthey were known as " A known as D".

When they left school they reverted to their Dad's surname wich has caused much confusion to their school friends who had always known them with the surname of "D" because we moved house to another town after their first name change :))

As long as you are not attempting to pervert the course of justice, you can call yourself by whatever name you choose. At least that is the theory.

However, the minute you attempt to do anything which requires you to prove who you are, such as applying for a passport, or getting married, you need to provide documentary evidence, such as a copy of a deed poll or earlier marriage certificate to link your current name back to that on your birth certificate.

thanks for this ...but it i need to know that

as my grandfather changed his name by deedpoll after his 2 children were born in their teens..so would their need to be doucumemnts for the children????
sam x

no body seems to know???
sam x

As far as I know, father's deed poll would not apply to any of his previous children unless they were mentioned in the same document.

Edit - I believe they would need their own Deed Poll. If over 16 it is their responsibility otherwise their legal parent can consent.

i didnt realise the children would be mentioned too ? in the same document? ...as i have the londongazette document to state the change ..there is no mention of any children to the same effect,.....

the 2 children we speak of is my dad and his brother ....they are on the birth certficate ,..the birth name ..and it seems there is no documents for deedpoll paperwork either of them as my dad married my mum under the name change from his father so hense i thought they would have documents.....?? how would of he obtained a passport for the name changed by his father??..
sam x

so they would needed to have a separate document too?
sam x

I chamged my name by Statutory Declaration. Basically this is telling a solicitor that one wishes to change ones name and the solicitor signs a sheet of A4 to the effect that from now on Joe Bloggs is to be known as John Doe.
My first son has a copy of the Declaration "just in case" anyone queries who he is as his birth cert. has my previous surname. Both of his passports however are in the surname that I took when I changed my name.
My other children and my adopted children use my "new" surname although both this and my first name have changed again considerably since the declaration.
In all my name has changed 4 times. My original birth name, my adoptive name, the name I changed to and the one I mostly use now.

so children born after fathers name change if different from birth name would need to have documents????