MOTHER WANTS HER CHILDREN'S SURNAME CHANGED AFTER THE FATHER ABANDONED THEM

ELGAR & VELSEN

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA

[2020] FamCA 352

This case involves the mother’s application for the change of name of her children, all surnamed after their father whose whereabouts is unknown.

FACTS:

Ms. Elgar (the mother) filed an Initiating Application seeking a change of surname in respect of each of her four children, and additionally, a change of middle name with respect of two of her four children.  All the parties’ children were registered at birth with the surname of Mr. Velsen (the father).

In the application, she sought dispensation of service upon the father in respect of her Initiating Application, setting out that her last contact in person with the father was in August 2008. Her previous telephone communication with him was in December 2018.  Through earnest efforts to locate the father, she was unsuccessful in finding him.

The mother sought the change of the children’s surname to feel further connected with her and their maternal family in Town F.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the Court should grant the mother’s application for her children’s change of name.

HELD:

The mother desired, as do the children on the mother's evidence that the children have a surname change, and in the instance of two children, a change of middle name. The children are of an age where their wishes should be given weight. They have a close and loving relationship with the mother and her extended maternal family. They have no ongoing relationship with their father, who has chosen to be absent in their lives for almost two years.

The Court must make orders that are in the children's best interests, and the Court concluded that it is in the children's best interests to accede to the mother's application. The children wish to be able to identify with the surname of their mother, now Elgar, and the surname of their maternal grandmother and extended family in a small country community. Their wish to identify in that way is not surprising given that family is their entire support network. Their close bond with their mother is another driver for the children's expression of their wishes and for the mother's desire to have her children known by the same surname as herself. It makes many of her daily activities easier when to all in the community. The children are readily identifiable as her children by their shared surname.

For the above reasons, the Court acceded to the application of the mother.