No. If the parties cannot agree to a name change then court
action is necessary. The court would
look at the following factors:
·
The best interests of the child
·
Confusion of identity
·
Short and long-term effects of a name change
·
Effect on the child's relationship with the
party not seeking the name change
·
Embarrassment to the child (eg. If surname is
different from mother's)
Sometimes parties agree on a hyphenated surname as a
compromise.
