(Abstract: Minor children can follow the father's surname or the mother's surname, and after divorce, change the child's surname to the father's surname or the mother's surname, which does not violate the relevant regulations.) ）
In the mainland, according to general customs and customs, children generally follow the father's surname, but some are followed by the mother's surname, and mainland law also stipulates that children can follow the father's surname or follow the mother's surname, so no matter which family name the child is with the father or mother, it does not violate the law. Recently, a news that because the wife took the child to change the surname without authorization after the divorce, the husband sued the court to ask the wife to change the child's surname back to the hot search, so is it illegal for one parent to change the surname of the minor child without the consent of the other party?
First, the case introduction
Mr. Liang and Ms. Xu were originally husband and wife, and in 2011, the two parties had a son, and the child took Mr. Liang's surname. In 2015, Mr. Liang and Ms. Xu divorced through a court judgment, and it was ruled that the children born in wedlock should be raised by Ms. Xu. In 2018, Mr. Liang learned that Ms. Xu had taken the child to change her surname, and then Mr. Liang sued the NanXian People's Court in Hunan Province, requesting that the child's original surname be restored on the grounds that Ms. Xu had changed the name of the child born in wedlock without her consent, violating his right to decide and change the name of the minor child born in marriage.
2. Judgment of the Court
After trial, the Nanxian People's Court of Hunan Province held that in this case, Ms. Xu's act of changing the name of her son born in wedlock without Mr. Liang's consent was indeed inappropriate, but Ms. Xu changed her son's surname to her mother's surname, the name she took did not violate public order and good customs, did not harm the public interest, and Mr. Liang also did not provide evidence to prove that Ms. Xu had changed the surname of her son born in wedlock to her stepfather's surname, so this case did not meet the legal requirements of "should be ordered to restore the original surname".
In addition, considering that the sons born in wedlock have used the name "Xu XX" for up to 3 years, and have reached the age of 9, they have a certain ability to judge and distinguish, in order to facilitate their study, life and growth, whether to restore their name to "Liang XX" should fully respect their own wishes. In the lawsuit, neither Ms. Xu nor her son appeared in court, and the court could not verify the current situation of the two sons born in wedlock. In the end, the court ruled to dismiss Mr. Leung's claim.
3. Professional analysis
(1) After divorce, is it illegal for one parent to change the surname of a minor child without authorization?
A: According to Article 1015 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, "a natural person shall follow his father's surname or his mother's surname". Article 59 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Marriage and Family Part of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (I) stipulates: "Parents shall not refuse to pay child support because their children change their surnames. Where a parent changes a child's surname to a stepmother or stepfather's surname without authorization, causing a dispute, it shall be ordered to restore the original surname. ”
That is to say, according to the current effective laws of the mainland, the child can follow the father's surname or the mother's surname, no matter which party's surname it follows, it does not violate the law, but if the child is changed to the stepfather's surname or stepmother's surname, then if the other parent does not agree, it can sue for change.
(ii) How do parents change their children's surnames after divorce?
A: If the child is under 18 years old, at this time the child does not have full capacity for civil conduct, can only be handled by the parents, and generally needs to be handled by the parents joint public security bureau, if the child has reached the age of 18, with full capacity for civil conduct, can decide to follow the father's surname or follow the mother's surname, without the consent of the parents, therefore, after the child reaches adulthood, the parents can not decide the child's surname.