Life isn’t always linear. Many women become single mothers due to various circumstances, from relationships that don’t work out to unforeseen life events such as adultery and death. In Kenya, as in many places, the mother’s name is almost always guaranteed to be on the child’s birth certificate. This reflects the reality of parental responsibility and legal recognition.
Later, many of these same Kenyan single mothers find themselves in new, loving relationships that blossom into marriage- months or years after leaving either short term or long term relationships that often result in one or multiple children being conceived.
When a single mother marries, she may wish to have her child share her new husband’s surname- the ‘father who stepped in’. This is a common desire for family unity and to continue with the same name tradition for any more children born later in the union.
Nairobi News now brings you a quick guide to help you understand the legal steps involved as guided by Huduma Kenya:
- The mother must first apply for a Deed Poll, a legal document that formally declares the intention to abandon the old name and adopt a new one.
- The mother and her new husband must then sign an affidavit which will outline the reasons for the name change and confirm the consent of all the parties involved.
- The name change decision will then be published by the Kenya Gazette, a government publication, to provide public notice.
- If the child is old enough to understand and express their wishes (typically above a certain age, though this is assessed on a case by case basis), their consent may also be required.
- If the child’s biological father’s name is on the birth certificate, his consent might be needed, or a court order might be required to proceed without it.
- Once the deed poll is registered, you can apply to update the child’s birth certificate with the new name. At this point, according to Huduma Kenya, both parents will need to fill application for re-registration form and sworn jointly by them. Both parents must also be physically present when applying for re-registration. The requirements are: parents’ identification cards, birth certificates without the father’s name, marriage certificate/joint affidavit by both parents.
The costs involved are Sh 100 for birth certificates with amendments on either parents or child’s names and Sh 100 for new birth certificate with amendments on the father’s names.
The timeline for this process is 10 days.
It will also be important for parents to consider the child’s best interests when planning to undertake these processes. They should consider the emotional position of the child, especially if they are older, so that they can understand if they are comfortable with the decision.
