Court Ruling on Child's Name and Paternal Filiation

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Court Ruling on Child's Name and Paternal Filiation

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Themes

Child name, paternal filiation, family law, court of appeal, cassation appeal, child identity, parental authority, International Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 3 § 1, child's best interest, family context, judicial decision, filiation link, child's surname, father's name, mother's name, rejection by father, hypothetical motive, sovereign assessment, family relationships, paternal grandfather, Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal, Court of Cassation, Civil Chamber 1, legal basis, cassation procedure, child rights, parental responsibility, surname change, judicial discretion, family ties, court judgment, appeal decision, legal terminology, family legislation, child protection, judicial process, court ruling, legal reasoning, family court, judicial review, surname legislation, child welfare, family jurisprudence, legal framework, court procedure, appeal judgment, cassation court, family law jurisprudence.

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Abstract
Extract

Abstract

The Court of Cassation rules on a case where a child's paternal filiation is established, and the child's name is disputed.

Extract

[...] The latter then files a cassation appeal. Theses in presence: The Court of Appeal estimates on the one hand that the child's name had no impact on the judicially established filiation link; on the other hand, it estimates that adding the name of a father who did not want to maintain any ties with him to the child's name risked confronting the latter with the rejection he is subjected to by his father. The mother complains to the attacked judgment of having refused to add the child's father's name to the mother's name, relying on a means cut into three branches: - The decision is based on the father's disinterest and not on the child's best interest as required by Article 3 § 1 of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. [...]

[...] Court of Cassation, Civil Chamber 11 May 2016, no. 15-17.185 - To what extent can the judge who establishes the paternal filiation of the child add to the name of the latter the name of his father who refuses to maintain any relationship? - Case summary Facts : In 2011, a child whose only established filiation was maternal was given the name of his mother at birth. Procedure : The mother assigns the presumed father in search of paternity. After biological expertise, the court of first instance established the paternal filiation of the child and decided that parental authority would be exercised exclusively by the mother, that the child's usual residence would be fixed at the home of the latter, that the child would now bear the name of his father added to that of his mother. [...]

[...] Problem of law: To what extent can the judge who establishes the paternal filiation of the child add the name of his father who refuses to maintain any relationship to that of the child? Solution : The Court of Cassation holds that the judges of the first instance have sovereignly assessed the entire set of interests present, including that of the child's best interest. They have thus sovereignly assessed the family context and determined that it was not in the child's interest to bear the name of his father. [...]

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