§ 1.7. Registration of children born in wedlock.
(a) The designation of a child’s name, including surname, is the right of the child’s parents. Thus, a child’s surname as recorded on its birth certificate may be the surname of either or both of the child’s parents, a surname formed by combining the surname of the parents in hyphenated or other form, or a name which bears no relationship to the surname of either parent.
(b) If the parents are divorced or separated at the time of the child’s birth, the choice of surname rests with the parent who has custody of the newborn child.
Source The provisions of this § 1.7 adopted November 7, 1975, 5 Pa.B. 2926.
Notes of Decisions The appellee did not lack standing to bring a name change action 18 months after birth against a custodial parent notwithstanding the provision of 28 Pa. Code § 1.7(b) vesting the custodial parent with the right to choose a newborn’s surname. Petition of Schidlemeir by Koslof, 496 A.2d 1249 (Pa. Super. 1985).
Cross References This section cited in 28 Pa. Code § 1.8 (relating to application).
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