Change of name?????

[DeborahT]

Does anyone know at what age a child can change their own name? My son is born in Melbourne Victoria, but we all live up in Queensland...any help would be really appreciated.

[Littletreasures]

im pretty sure that you have to be 18... But im sure that the legal guardians can change his name... sorry if that is not much help....
You could try calling Births Deaths and Marriages or have a look at there website

http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/bdm/home.htm

[subaruforestermum]

When our father left I was 8 my sister was 10 (I think..long time ago now)...anyway, we reverted back to my mums last name without any cost....and I think we just had to sign a statutory declaration when I went ot get my lisence that I had changed my last name, etc..

That was in SA though, not really sure about anywhere else.....

[NZMama]

From what I know it is 18 unless with parental consent then you can change your name at a younger age.

[DeborahT]

I wonder if I can change the boys names to my maiden name?? Or would I still have to go to births deaths and marrages to do that?

[Sarie]

My cousin changed her kids surname back to her maiden name when she left her ex, but I'm not sure of how she went about it. Probably wouldn't hurt to give Births deaths and marriages a call, they'd probably know how to go about it.

[bekkyboo]

In NSW i knew someone who had her son's (about 3 at the time) last name changed back to hers. She just needed her Ex to sign it over.

[SairBear]

we (mum , my bro and myself) changed our surnames in 96... back to mums mums maiden name... i was 15 my bro 13 and mum had to sign for us etc... we went down to births deaths office and filled out what seemed like a trillion forms and whalah! new name!... im not sure if my mum had full custody of us she mustof cuz she didnt need dad to sign anything... when we did it.

[Mummy'N'Bubby]

Um yup i know. lol
My first child who lives with my mother is 9 years old. He can have his name changed with the consent at anytime from parent/guardian... Before the age of 16 it doesnt cost anything (this going on the surname being changed). After this age (16) you have to pay to get your name changed... If a parent or guardian does not consent to changing the childs name, the child then has to wait until they reach their own consenting age of 18...
Hope this helps :fingerscrossed:

[Mummy'N'Bubby]

I wonder if I can change the boys names to my maiden name?? Or would I still have to go to births deaths and marrages to do that?

DeborahT, Yes any person that has their names changed must in fact go through all the rigmorall of BDM as this is where every persons file is kept... There is sooo much paper work to be done but if you want your child to have the same name as you etc... then it is worth going through all that drama...
I however wont ever have that problem when my DS gets older as i have given him both my surname as well as my DP's :thumbsup:

[DeborahT]

The issue that I have to look into is the fact that one child is born in Tasmania and the other is born in Melbourne...we live in Queensland, I rang up the courts here and they said that its out of their jurisdiction so I have to contact the places of birth to see if they can actually have thier names changed with just my consent, I have full custody of both the children, they haven't seen the ex in over 4 years, he has no contact with them what so ever..his choice. I can't get his signature because he is unfindable, he doesnt claim centrelink benefits and doesnt work, no tax number has been taken through child support, we don't even know if he's still in Australia to be honest. I do have another child to my DH now, the boys want to have the same surname as thier brother, its complicated and I'd love to fix the problem with this. My boys desperately want their name changed and I'll try what I can, does anyone know the exact numbers to call to get in contact with the DBM in Melbourne and Tasmainia?

[Ryan&RileysMum]

My cousin changed her kids surname back to her maiden name when she left her ex, but I'm not sure of how she went about it. Probably wouldn't hurt to give Births deaths and marriages a call, they'd probably know how to go about it.

i was just wondering were the kids his if so was he on the birth certificate
i left my ex last year and he is on my sons b/c
i want to change ds1 last name to just my name instead of hyphenated

[jessilyn0412]

Hi! i am adopted. and in the US when a family adopts a child they have the option to change his/her name then..at no extra cost. After that they have to be 18 for the child to do it. But if u are wanting to change your sons name you should be able to just do it. Here in the US it cost about $150. I wouldn't know about in Australia. i don't know if this helps.
:laughing:

[Africamum]

[QUOTE=Shezi;866831]as far as i know in WA its 12 that they can decide. or atleast have a say.:

QUOTE]

Not true DH signed a form for DSD to change her name to her step fathers name when she was 14. Her step father is a good man and has been her "dad" since DSD was small. We did not allow DH's name to be removed from the certificate.

It was DSD's choice to change her name and DH supported her decison although we would have preferred that she was older when she made the decision as some of the things she has been told are an "interesting version of the truth" DSD was also not aware at the time that we were paying any maintenance, she was under the impression DH had never contributed, let alone be aware of the degree we subsidised their lifestyle.


As she was using her stepfathers name - we had issues with the schools etc when we suddenly had to start paying the private school fees on top of the mainenance and the netball fees and the uniforms and the ball dress and the new shoes etc etc etc. It was also a little embarrising for her as her step father was a director of the school.

Each state has a BDM or a version thereoff. Most have a website to find info from.

[tomtom]

I have been thinking of doing this myself with my two older kids 15 and 13. We live in vic. I went to the website for Births deaths and marriages, changing names (can't think of website name now and paperwork is at mums). You can download all forms needed to go a head with name change. My ex never sees the kids, hasn't for about 9 years now, no maintenance paid, nothing. The problem is you do need your exes permission and you have to prove that you have exhausted every avenue in finding him eg rang his last place of work, tried to find any of his family members etc ( there's a seperate form for this that explains what you need to do) then you have to get approved by the courts. Of course this all casts money. About $120, I think. Then it costs again to actually change the names. I rang up years a go about this and they tried to talk me out of it for the fact that if the father dies and hasn't left a will the children are not entitled to anything nor can they contest the will. My ex has nothing anyway and I don't think he ever will! so this wasn't a concern for me.
I hope this helps.
As for tassie I don't know what they do. I'm sure they have forms on their website as well.