Custody Issues

Child’s Name

  1. Cardinal Rule:  All official school records for a student – the permanent and cumulative records – must list the student’s legal surname.
  2. What schools can and must control:
    1. name on report card
    2. name on individual and class “school pictures”
    3. name on lunch card, student I.D. card
    4. name on roster of activities (teams, clubs)
    5. name on diploma
  3. What schools can’t control:
    1. what name student uses on papers, tests
    2. what student wants to be called by teacher, peers
  4. It may avoid trauma to the student to list stepfather’s name in parenthesis, as long as the school’s records clearly and unambiguously reflect the legal surname

Custody Matrix