In re Two Minors for Change of Name

The mother (mother), the former wife of the father (father), brought a petition in the Probate and Family Court on behalf of her two minor children (children) seeking to change the children’s surname from that the father to that of her present husband, the children’s stepfather (stepfather).1 After a hearing, the judge denied the request for change of name, stating that it would not be in the best interests of the children.

1. Background. The children were bom in 1990 and 1992, *851respectively, and bear as their legal surname their father’s last name. After the children’s mother and father were…