Cohan v. Cunningham

— Application unanimously denied and petition dismissed, without costs. Memorandum: Petitioner seeks to vacate an order issued by respondent which granted an application to petitioner’s former spouse to change the surname of their son.

Although a father has a recognized interest in having his child bear his surname (see, e.g., Matter of Yessner, 61 Misc 2d 174; Matter of Hinrichs v Beinecke, 41 Misc 2d 422; Steinbach v Steinbach, 119 NYS2d 708; cf. Matter of “Shipley”, 26 Misc 2d 204), neither parent has a superior right to determine the surname of the child, and the question is always whether…