I have just married my Thai partner. We have a child of our own, plus four children from her previous relationship. My wife has changed her surname to mine and we are wondering whether to change my four step children's names to mine as well.

I can see some obvious advantages, but would appreciate any words of wisdom from anyone who has been in the same position as me and resolved it satisfactorily.

Thank you.

how old are the children? personally i would ask them if they want to if they are at an appropriate age as to understand. what is their relationship like with the father? do they have one? as for the pro's and con's i have no idea

EDIT* for some reason i am assuming they have their fathers surname....

Edited April 3, 201016 yr by c411um

how old are the children? personally i would ask them if they want to if they are at an appropriate age as to understand. what is their relationship like with the father? do they have one? as for the pro's and con's i have no idea

EDIT* for some reason i am assuming they have their fathers surname....

Are you going to legally adopt them. If not then it may be legally imposable to change names.

Whose names do the children curently have. if it is the mothers,last name, it shouldn't be a problem.

Thank you for contributions fo far. In answer to queries raised, my step children were given have their biological father's surname, although their mother and father never married legally. The children are aged 19, 16, 13 and ten. No, I do not have plans to legally adopt them, although I have now discovered that the local amphur told my wife, when we were registering our marriage, that this would be necessary in order for them to be given my surname (assuming they want it!)

I assume it would be helpful for them to have my surname if, for example, I wanted to take them to the Uk for a holiday or to live. On the other hand, I don't wish to create problems for them in their own country by them having a falang surname. I am not sure what these problems may be, but I can imagine that their school chums might make capital out of them being "different" when the class register was read out. I know this sounds trivial, but kids can be very sensitive. Thanks for the comments so far and I would be grateful for more - though I am beginning to suspect that in order to give chapter on verse on the implications of what I am suggesting I probably need to consult a lawyer who specialises in domestic matters. I am in Cha Am. If anyone knows a good legal eagle locally please let me know. Thank you.

Interesting subject. It could have some negative repercussions for a Thai citizen living in Thailand to have a foreign family name. Once I was told at a Katsikorn Bank branch office that a lower interest rate was given to non Thais, and what they where looking at was the family name. This was an upcountry branch office, don't know if this constitutes official Katsikorn policy.

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I assume it would be helpful for them to have my surname if, for example, I wanted to take them to the Uk for a holiday or to live.

They having your surname will have no bearing on whether or not they would be able to get a tourist visa for the UK, as for settlement it would make no difference either. But fyi, if settlemt in the UK is an option the cut off for children to join their parent on a settlement visa application is I believe 17 years old so would onlybe possible for the 2 younger kids (if you were planning to go int he next 2 -3 years). The 19 & 16 year old would need to apply for their own settlement visas but again, their surname would not open up any doors for them in this regard.

if i were you i would not.

The mother never legally married the father and I bet the father never went to court to get his children legitimized so the mother is by law sole guardian and can change the name without the fathers consent any time she wants. She shouldn't unless the children themselves want it though

This must be the childrens decision