Changing The Surname Of A Child Whose Custody Is With The Mother
As a rule, the child born within the marriage union is given the surname of the father. However, in case of separation of the spouses, there may be various differences of opinion regarding the surname of the child. Even if the spouses separate, the child born within the marriage union takes the surname of the father and this situation continues after the divorce. However, in some cases where the child has the best interests of the child, the child may take the mother’s maiden name. There is no other legal regulation on this issue. Therefore, if the mother marries later, the surname of her new husband cannot be given to the child. You can review the Sample Court of Cassation Decision.
2nd Civil Chamber
2020/565 E.
2020/4810 K
“Case Law Text”
COURT :Family Court
TYPE OF CASE : Changing the Surname of the Child Whose Custody is with the Mother
At the end of the trial of the case between the parties, the judgment given by the local court and dated and numbered above was appealed by the defendant institution, the documents were read and discussed:
In her petition for lawsuit, the plaintiff woman claimed that she and the defendant …, the father of the common child Umut, divorced with the decree of Sivas Family Court numbered 2005/1022 Main, 2005/991 Decision, that she was given the custody of the common child Umut, that she had a second marriage with a person named Göksel Yerlikaya, that there were problems due to the fact that the surnames of the common child and herself were different, and requested and sued for the change of the surname of the common child Umut from “Yıldızhan” to “Yerlikaya”. As a result of the trial conducted by the court and the evidence collected; the plaintiff is married for the second time, she has a child from her second marriage, Göksel Yerlikaya has a son from his first marriage, the surname of everyone in the family except the plaintiff’s son Umut is “Yerlikaya”, this situation has a negative effect on the child, as per Article 27 of the Civil Code and Article 20 of the Constitution. 27 and Article 20 of the Constitution, the request to change the surname of the child whose custody is given to the mother can be accepted if there is a justified reason, for this reason, it was decided to accept the lawsuit and change Umut’s surname from “Yıldızhan” to “Yerlikaya” and the related decision was appealed by the defendant institution. The dispute between the parties is whether it is possible to change the surname of the child born in the union of marriage with the surname acquired by the plaintiff mother due to her second marriage. In the Turkish Legal System, it is understood that the child born in the union of marriage can take the surname of his father or, according to the case law, the mother, whose custody is given to him as a result of divorce, can take the surname of the single mother if the child has the best interest of the child and there is no other legal regulation on this issue. In the face of this situation, while the lawsuit should be rejected, the decision to accept the lawsuit by making a mistake in the interpretation of the provisions of the law is contrary to the procedure and the law and requires reversal.
CONCLUSION: It was unanimously decided that the appealed judgment will be DISMISSED for the reason shown above, the pre-appeal fee will be returned to the depositor upon request, and the way of decision correction will be open within 15 days from the notification of this decision. 15.10.2020
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