Paul Emma v. Jessica Evans (070071)

This appeal arises from a post-divorce dispute over the surname given to two children by their married parents. After the parents’ divorce was finalized in all respects, including the execution of a property settlement agreement giving both parents joint legal custody and making no mention of any change to the children’s surnames, the mother—the parent of primary residence of the children—unilaterally began using a hyphenated version of the parents’ two surnames with hers listed first. When challenged, the mother filed a formal application to modify the children’s names to her surname alone.

In…