Child Received Hyphenated Surname of Both Parents

Tennessee case summary on naming a child born out of wedlock.

In Re: Jalen O-H.

The child in this Davidson County, Tennessee, case was born in 2014.  The father was not present for the birth, nor did he sign the birth certificate.  But the day after the birth, he conducted a DNA test that confirmed that he was the biological father.  For about three months, the father visited the child regularly, but the mother did not allow him to take the child, who was breastfeeding at the time.  Starting in early 2015, he exercised more visitation, which included overnight visits.

The mother was hospitalized later that year, and the father took custody.  He then filed a lawsuit to establish parentage and for emergency placement.  A hearing was held, and the magistrate ordered that each parent would exercise equal parenting time.  Later, it issued a custody order naming the mother as the primary residential parent, with the father receiving 85 days per year of visitation.  The father was also ordered to pay child support.  The father then appealed to the juvenile court, which kept the mother as the primary residential parent.  However, it also awarded the father 141 days of parenting time.  Another hearing was held, and the court decided on the child’s surname, which would be a hyphenated version of the father’s and mother’s.  The father then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.  He raised a number of issues regarding child support, but also argued that the trial court had erred with respect to the child’s name.  The father argued that the child should have been given his surname.

After addressing the child support issues, the appeals court turned to the issue of the name change.  The father first argued that neither party had asked for the hyphenated name.  The child already had the mother’s name, and the mother wanted to keep it that way.  The father, on the other hand, argued that had asked for his surname to be given.

But the appeals court combed the record and found that the father’s attorney had stated in court, “I have submitted the possibility of a hyphenated name.”  Therefore, the appeals court held that the father’s first argument lacked merit, since he had, in fact, suggested the possibility of a hyphenated name.

The court then noted that the relevant statute allowed for the child to bear either the father’s or mother’s name, or a combination.  Earlier cases had held that a name change was not appropriate unless it promoted the child’s best interests.  The party seeking the name change has the burden of proof.

After reviewing the relevant factors, the appeals court reminded the father that the hyphenated name had been his idea in the first place, and that the evidence did not preponderate against the trial court’s ruling.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s judgment.

No. M2016-01484-COA-R3-JV  (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 29, 2017).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Child Custody Laws in Tennessee.

See also Tennessee Parenting Plans and Child Support Worksheets: Building a Constructive Future for Your Family featuring examples of parenting plans and child support worksheets from real cases available on Amazon.com.