- The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a mother who remarries after her biological father's death can choose her child's surname and include it in her new family.
- An Andhra Pradesh High Court decision ordering a mother to change her child's surname and refer to her new husband in records as'stepfather' was overturned by a bench of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Krishna Murari.
- The court stated that such a directive is almost cruel and disregards the child's mental health and self-esteem.
- "Name is important because a child derives his identity from it," the court stated. "A difference in name from his family would act as a constant reminder of the fact of adoption and expose the child to unnecessary questions, impeding a smooth, natural relationship between him and his parents."
- "We see nothing unusual in the appellant mother, upon remarriage, giving the child the surname of her husband or even giving the child for adoption to her husband," the court wrote.
- The lawsuit stems from a disagreement over the child's surname between the deceased biological father's grandparents and the mother, who remarried after her first husband died.
- The woman then petitioned the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which ordered that the child's surname be restored and that the natural father's name be shown whenever records allow, as well as his name being listed as the child's stepfather if it is otherwise illegal. The mother, who was dissatisfied with the decision, then petitioned the Supreme Court.
- The Supreme Court stated that "a surname refers to the name a person shares with other members of that person's family, distinguished from that person's given name or names; a family name" in ruling that the mother has an absolute right to decide the child's surname after the death of her husband.
- The court also stated that the current husband adopted the child through a registered adoption deed while the petition was pending and stated, "To avoid any doubt, it is reiterated that the mother, as the child's sole natural guardian, has the authority to choose the child's surname. She also has the option of placing the child for adoption."
- "The court has the authority to intervene, but only when a specific request is made, and such a request must be based on the premise that the child's best interests are paramount and outweigh all other considerations. With the foregoing observations, the high court's directions regarding the child's surname are reversed "The court continued.
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