Adoption and change of name

[roymck]

Is it normal for a child to be adopted by his natural mother and her new husband on a 2nd marriage so that the child takes the new husbands surname . Was there any other way a child could have its surname changed to that of a stepfather without actually being adopted ?
By being adopted the child becomes a heir to the father , but a surname change only would that child still be an heir to the previous father ?
Thanks and Confused

[avm228]

It isn’t clear what jurisdiction you refer to, but assuming UK then a person can lawfully use any name (unless it’s for dishonest purposes) without the need for formalities, and the use by a child of a stepfather’s name has been common both before and after the introduction of statutory adoption on 1 January 1927.

[roymck]

It’s the UK in the 60,s , just thought that I had never heard of a natural mother adopting her own child !

[california dreamin]

Hi roymck

I think this happened and still happens alot.   You can legally change a name by deedpoll but that would not give full parental rights to a birth parent and new partner they would have to go through the adoption process.  So, there is more to it  than just changing the child's surname.

CD

[a-l]

It used to happen that way when the new husband wanted to adopt his Wife's child by previous relationship .
Because a child had to be adopted by two parents, the Mother had to adopt her own child.

[crisane]

A friend of mine in Australia in the late 1960's remarried after her first husband's death. Her second husband wished to adopt his wife's daughter and she also had to adopt her own daughter. Not because the law said two parents were to adopt a child but because if only her new husband adopted her daughter she would lose all rights to her - she would not be the legal parent of her own child.

[majm]

I am in New South Wales,  one of eight jurisdictions in Australia.  My cousin John was 11 when his Dad died.  His mum remarried and  John's step-dad asked John if he would allow John to become his legal son.  Same for John's 2 younger siblings.  All wanted this. And then they discovered that at that time it would be a huge and costly legal process for ONE person to be allowed to adopt three children,  but if a married couple sought to adopt it would be a  simple legal process as one prospective person was already the lawful parent.   That NSW legal loophole was changed in the 1970s - to avoid discrimination issues.

Above is a short version of John"s phone conversation with me this morning.  His step-dad was a NSW Chamber Magistrate in the 'old, former Petty Sessions admin,'  so possibly that old adoption criteria  would have a traditional basis from English statute law.

JM

[roymck]

So without access to the adoption file a person that has been adopted may incorrectly assume that they have no blood connection to either there mother or father , but they may have actually been adopted  by there birth mother or even there biological father and not known this .
I assume also in some tragic cases grandparents have adopted there own grandchildren .
The key to all this is what the adoption files contain. Real can of worms !

[majm]

Well I would expect the child"s mum would explain to her own child what had happened and why
... and the actual file would reflect what she and her new husband had gone through .... afterall the lad may have been able  to recollect his birth dad.... and likely had aunts/uncles cousins grandparents perhaps even siblings who were family too.


JM