SGO - Name change

[Weandourthree]

Hello!

We have sgos for our 2 nephews and one niece. The boys have been with us since 2013 when they were 3 years old and 15 months old, both 12 and 9 now. And our niece is 6 and has been with us since she was 10 months old.

No fathers are involved and never have been. No father on our nieces birth certificate. The boys have got fathers named however it was proven these were the father's and when the sgo was granted there was a non parentage order for the father's.

Birth mother has not really had a relationship with the children for various reasons (childrens wishes
unsafe contact etc) and has not seen them for a number of years. she unfortunaly passed away a couple of months ago.

Our eldest has been wanting to change his last name to ours for many years however birth mum was against it and I didn't want to rustle feathers having to go through a lengthy court battle.

Due to her passing, and seemingly now only us having PR how would we go about changing his last name?

What do people think with regards to staying with SGO or applying to adoption?

Any help or advice would be appreciated

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Weandourthree

Welcome to the kinship carers discussion forum and thank you for posting. Although the children’s mother has not be in regular contact with them, it is likely to be difficult for them to know that their birth mother has passed.

In your post you ask about changing the children’s surname since you have parental responsibility for them under special guardianship orders. You also mention in your post that there is an order of non-parentage for your nephews’ father(s). I am not clear if you are saying it was proved they were not the father although named on the children’s birth certificate or that parental responsibility was removed from the father(s) by the court.

In either situation it appears that you are the only person with parental responsibility and as such can make decisions about change of name. You may wish to speak with Child Law Advice on 0300 330 5480 as this is a private law issue which is not within the remit of our service. You may find this link to their website helpful.

Adoption would change the family relationship legally as you would become a legal parent and they would have all the rights as your children. There are procedural steps to be taken for an adoption and requires a court order. You may wish to seek legal advice about adoption.

Please see the information on our website relating to adoption for more information.

I hope this information is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie