IN RE: PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME AND/OR CORRECTION OF
ENTRY IN THE CIVIL REGISTRY OF JULIAN LIN CARULASAN WONG
454 SCRA 155, GR No. 159966, (30 March 2005) Facts: Spouses X and Y had minor A when they were not married to each other yet. The subsequent marriage of X and Y brought about the legitimation of A. His parents plan to have his education in Singapore together with his sister and to stay there for good. Since in Singapore, people do not carry their middle names and that using such middle name would provoke embarrassment, the mother, Y, filed in the RTC a petition for a change of name and/or correction/cancellation of entry of As name by dropping the mothers surname. The trial court denied the petition. A petition for review on certiorari was filed before the SC. Issue: Whether or not dropping the middle name of a minor child is contrary to Article 174 of the Family Code on the basis of convenience for the childs best interest. Ruling: No. This petition, unlike others, does not simply seek to change the name of the minor and adopt another but instead seeks to drop the middle name altogether. Generally, our laws on the use of surnames state that legitimate and legitimated children shall principally use the fathers surname. The Family Code gives legitimate children the right to bear the surnames of the father and the mother, while illegitimate children shall use the surname of their mother, unless their father recognizes their filiation, in which case
they may bear the fathers surnames. Therefore, an
illegitimate child whose filiation is not recognized by the father bears only a given name and his mothers surname, and does not have a middle name. It is only when the illegitimate child is legitimated by the subsequent marriage of his parents or acknowledged by the father in a public document or private handwritten instrument that he bears both his mothers surname as his middle name and his fathers surname as his surname. For the grant of a change of name, there must be proper and reasonable cause for which the change is sought. The petitioner must show not only some proper or compelling reason but also that he will be prejudiced by the use of his true and official name. The evidence need only be satisfactory to the court and not all the best evidence available. The court should also be mindful of the consequent results in the event of its grant. In this case, the only reason advanced by Y for the dropping As middle name is convenience. However, how such change of name would make his integration into Singaporean society easier and convenient is not clearly established. That the continued use of his middle name would cause confusion and difficulty does not constitute proper and reasonable cause to drop it from his registered complete name. In addition, considering the nebulous foundation on which his petition for change of name is based, it is best that the matter of change of his name be left to his judgment and discretion when he reaches the age of majority. Petition