Child’s Name Cannot Be Changed By Court Policy Without Evidence

Tennessee case summary on unwed parents’ child’s name change.

In re: Emersyn W.

The child in this Montgomery County, Tennessee, case was born in 2017 to unwed parents.  The parents had been in a relationship for about three years, but the relationship ended before the child was born.

The father petitioned the juvenile court to be named the lawful father and to determine parenting plan and child support matters.  He also requested that the child’s last name be changed to his.

The parents were able to resolve all of the issues other than the child’s surname, which had been listed as the mother’s on the birth certificate.  The juvenile court, Judge Kenneth R. Goble, informed them that the court had a policy of hyphenating surnames when the parties were unable to agree.  No evidence was heard at the hearing. When the parties could not agree, the court ordered that the child would have both surnames, but without the hyphen.  The mother then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.  She argued that the court had applied the wrong legal standard.

The Court of Appeals began its analysis by stating the legal standard, namely, whether the change is in the child’s best interest.  It noted that the party requesting the change bears the burden of proof of whether that standard is met.

The appeals court cited a 1993 case in which a lower court had also adopted a “rule” that fathers who agreed to support nonmarital children “deserved” to have the children named after them.  This practice had been struck down in the earlier case, and the appeals court found that the case’s reasoning should apply to the case before it as well.

In this case, the appeals court noted that the lower court had not made any findings of fact as to the child’s best interest.  Indeed, it noted that this would have been impossible, since there had been no evidence presented.  For that reason, the appeals court held that the order would need to be reversed.  The court also assessed the costs of the appeal against the father.

No. M2017-02074-COA-R3-JV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 24, 2018).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

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.