THEL double surname is law. The Council sends the first paragraph of article 262 of the Civil Code to the attic the automatic attribution of the paternal surname only.
Double surname: it is law
A rule that translated “into the invisibility of the mother. And which bore “the seal of an inequality between parents that reverberated and was imprinted on the identity of the child“. This is exactly what is written by the judges in the reasons for the filed sentence and that it will be published in the Official Gazette very soon.
The son, therefore, the judges wrote, must assume “the surnames of the parents, in the order agreed by themwithout prejudice to the agreement, at the time of recognition, to attribute the surname of only one of them “.
The Consulta sends to the attic the automatic attribution of the paternal surname only, but he asks himself questions. (Getty Images)
Avoid the multiplier effect
The Constitutional Court, however, also appeals to the legislator to intervene as soon as possible to “prevent that the attribution of the surname of both parents involves, in the succession of generations, a multiplier mechanism which would be detrimental to the identity function of the surname “.
Which means: to prevent thethe son has four, his grandson 16, his son 32, the grandson 64 and so on. The Consult the theme poses it. But at the moment only hypotheses can be considered, looking at what they do abroad.
Double surname: what other countries do
In fact, in almost all European countries there are laws which, although different from each other, are inspired by the principle according to which one is free to attribute to one’s children the paternal, maternal surname or that of both parents.
In France and Belgiumfor example, if there is no agreement between the parents, both surnames are assigned in alphabetical order. In Luxembourg a lottery is used to choose.
In Portugal parents freely choose which and how many surnames to put, up to a maximum of four. With regard to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Austria the mother’s surname is automatically assigned by the registry, unless you give an indication of your choice.
And again, in the Netherlands one of the two surnames is attributed by mutual agreement. While in Germany, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Croatia the surname that is assigned to the children is the one chosen by the parents for the whole family. If, however, the two spouses have kept their respective surnames, they can freely choose which of the two to attribute.
United Kingdom, surname different from that of parents
In the United Kingdomis still different in the sense that parents can even attribute a surname different from their own. In Spaininstead, as happens in most Latin American countries, it is mandatory that children bear the surnames of both parents, who can only decide the order.
Double surname, the new rules
The Constitutional Court therefore established that the surname of the child “must be composed with the surnames of the parents”, in the order they decide. In order to attribute only the surname of one of the two, an agreement between the parents is essential.
If there is a conflict on the order of attribution of surnames, the intervention of the judge will be necessary, which the legal system already provides for resolving disputes over choices concerning children. This pending other criteria, provided by the legislator.
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