Basically, when you get married, you choose a "family name", which can be either partner's surname. The other spouse doesn't have to take it, but that's the name any children born from that marriage get. (It's allowed to defer this decision until the first child is born, which is what my husband and I did).
So it's clear what surname kids will get at birth for married couples For unmarried couples, it's a bit more complicated - it is possible to choose the father's name, though. I have no idea what happens if you then later get married and choose the other name as the family name. I'm sure there's some law for that as well, probably just telling you that you can't...
As for divorce/remarriage, children just keep their names. The surnames can be changed, but don't have to - my husband doesn't share his name with his mother/stepfather/half-sisters he grew up with, because he didn't want to change it.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jack
no subject
Date: 2016-03-06 10:38 pm (UTC)So it's clear what surname kids will get at birth for married couples For unmarried couples, it's a bit more complicated - it is possible to choose the father's name, though. I have no idea what happens if you then later get married and choose the other name as the family name. I'm sure there's some law for that as well, probably just telling you that you can't...
As for divorce/remarriage, children just keep their names. The surnames can be changed, but don't have to - my husband doesn't share his name with his mother/stepfather/half-sisters he grew up with, because he didn't want to change it.