Gubernat v. Deremer

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

STEIN, J.

The question presented by this appeal concerns the right of a father, in cases involving disputes over a child’s surname, to insist that the child bear his surname. The issue arises in the context of a child, born to unmarried parents, who was given his mother’s surname at birth, the father having refused to acknowledge paternity. When his paternity was established by tests performed approximately seven months later, the father acknowledged paternity and commenced visitation. Shortly thereafter, the father instituted litigation seeking joint…