Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1945 )

826 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN GROVERSELLERS ATTORNEY GENERAL xionorabie u. A. Davis State Registrar ..A Texas State Board of Iieaith i Austin 2, Texas “\ Deer sir: Oplnlon lot;.-o-&s :. Re: Name..ol’ lilegltlmate child born lU’%tlllbipth. We have your letter w’ff’cillowsr “The question freQuentlg erl8er as to the sur- name 0r en lllegltlmate, 8a 1s shown la a quotation from Mr. Bernhagen, RegSstr\ap ofbirths and deaths in Beaumont, Texas: ‘ ?~ ‘,/ .,... ....\ * “‘A cud vgs born here ln.,Beaumont, the birth happening to b,e a st¶Jlblrth. The mother of the child vas a vidov, her husband having Aled:more than a year ago, The In- firmary, 8t vhlch the birth occurred, llst- ed-&he birth as 1lIegitlmate but they vere ,,. bdeoided as to vbat name to give the infant ’ -- whether thb chlldrs surname should be the mother’s maiden surname or her widowed hus- ‘\ I,band’s -name.’ ‘\ ‘.,, ‘It ii no8 my intention to argue the ease, but the birth record calls, la item 2, for the full name of the child; item 8, for the full name of the father; and in item 14, the full maiden name of the mother . “In the case mentioned by Mr. Bernhagen, slnoe the records shov that the father is dead, the child 1s lllegltlmste end the certificate ~111 be SO vrit- ten. The widow carries the name of her former hus- bend. According to a previous oplnlon issued by 827 Honorable W. A. Davis, page 2 your department, the ohlld takes the surname of its mother, but in such cases as this, to place the lather’s surname 8a the surname 03’ the child vould violate Paragraph 25, Rule 448, Article 4477, V.T.S. ln tb8t the 8urnama of the child, in this caue, vould be 8t least soms lnformatlon by vhioh the rather right be identlried. “Please advise m8 what the 8urnam8 should be in ouch 08~88 as that described above." Rule 398 of Article 4477, Revised Civil Statutes, pro- vides in pert as follovs: “That a stillborn child shall be registered as a birth ami also as a death, and separate certifl- cates of both the birth and the death ehall be filed with the local registrar, la the usual form end manner, the oertlficate of birth to COnt8lQ 1Q place of the name of the child, the word 'still- birth’; provided, that a certlrioate of birth and a certificate of death shall not be required for a child that has not 8dvaQOed to the fifth month of uterogestatlon. . . ." We think this plain language of the rtatute disposes of your question, and that it 1s unnecessary to give the child 8ny name at all. Very truly yours ATTORNEX GFJUWAOF TEXAS EH: db