FEW KNOW IT, BUT A JUDGMENT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ISSUED AT THE END OF 2016 HAS OPENED THE DOORS TO ALL THOSE PARENTS WHO WANT TO GIVE THEIR CHILDREN THEIR CHILDREN'S SURNAME. IT IS NOT LAW BUT, ON THE OTHER HAND, THERE ISN'T EVEN A LAW THAT IMPOSES THE FATHER'S SURNAME.LET'S FIND OUT THE TOPIC IN DETAIL.
It has always been customary to give children their father's surname. For centuries, maternal origins have been ignored, cancelled, lost, in the name of the pater familias. And even if, in 2014, a law that addressed the problem and sanctioned the possibility for children to have both surnames had been approved in the House, this still stands still in the Senate. Until now, the only way to obtain a double surname was to request it from the prefect, as when one's surname is ridiculous or offensive, or in the case of unmarried couples who first have the mother recognize the child and, later, , to the father, in order to give him the two surnames.
On the basis of the sentence of the Constitutional Court of 8 November 2016 (published on 21 December 2016, n. 286), following the appeal of an Italian-Brazilian couple residing in Genoa, it is established as follows: in case of agreement between the parties, at the time of birth, the parents can register the newborn with the double surname, with the maternal surname following the paternal one – order reconfirmed by the Minister of the Interior with Circular letter no. 7 of 06/14/2017.
In the absence of agreement between the parents, the general provision of the attribution of the paternal surname alone remains valid.
DEFINITELY:
■ If the newborn is the son of a married woman , he will always take the husband's surname, followed by the maternal one if the father agrees.
■ If the newborn is the son of an unmarried woman and the father recognizes him later, the surname will be assigned by the Juvenile Court: in this case, it is possible to obtain a different surname from that of the father (see next paragraph) .
■ If the newborn is the child of a mixed couple , with one Italian parent and one of foreign nationality, two scenarios arise. If the child was born abroad, it is possible to ask that only the maternal surname or the double surname assigned to him according to foreign legislation be recognised, when the birth certificate is transcribed in Italy. If, on the other hand, he was born in Italy, the surname would be his father's, but the application of the law in force in the foreign country of which he is also a national can be requested, motivating the request with the need to have identical personal details in the documents produced by the two countries in which the child has citizenship.
CAN I ASSIGN ONLY THE MATERNAL SURNAME?
In the presence of unmarried parents, for the attribution of the maternal surname only, the current legislation provides that the assignment of the surname is made by the Juvenile Court. In practice, at the time of the birth declaration, only the mother must recognize the child; he will then have to go to the acknowledgment office and fix the date of the paternal recognition: the parents will have to go there together and express their preferences regarding the surname. The practice will be passed to the Juvenile Court which, after hearing the parents, will decide whether to leave the child with the mother's surname, add the father's surname to this or replace the mother's surname with that of the father.
by Carlotta Cordieri