23.09.2025 17:30
A woman living in Antalya filed a lawsuit requesting that her child bear the surname of her new spouse. The Antalya 9th Family Court approved this request. However, the 2nd Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation found the decision to be unlawful and overturned it in the interest of the law.
The Court of Cassation's 2nd Civil Chamber annulled the court's decision to change the surname of the child of a woman who divorced her husband to the surname of the person she married again, deeming it unlawful.
A woman living in Antalya stated that after her divorce from her ex-husband, she was granted custody of her child, but the child continued to carry her ex-husband's surname. The mother, who claimed to have faced issues due to the difference between her surname and her child's after remarrying, filed a lawsuit for her child to carry her new husband's surname, or if that was not possible, to carry her maiden surname.
MINISTRY REQUESTED ANNULMENT, STATING "DECISION IS ERRONEOUS"
The Antalya 9th Family Court, which conducted the trial, decided that the child could use the surname of the woman's new husband. The decision became final without undergoing appellate review. The Ministry of Justice requested annulment in the public interest, arguing that the court's decision was erroneous. The Court of Cassation's 2nd Civil Chamber annulled the local court's decision without affecting the outcome, in accordance with Article 363 of the Code of Civil Procedure No. 6100.
REASONING OF THE DECISION
In the chamber's decision, it was noted that under the Turkish legal system, a child born within a marriage can take the father's surname, and that after a divorce, the mother granted custody can use her maiden surname "if it serves the best interests of the child."
The decision stated that the plaintiff mother did not use her maiden surname due to her subsequent marriage, and therefore the conditions for the mother's request for her child to use her surname were not met. The decision indicated that it was not possible for the child to use the surname of the mother's new husband, stating, "The decision to change the child's surname to the surname acquired by the plaintiff mother in her subsequent marriage was found to be contrary to procedure and law, necessitating the annulment of the ruling in the public interest."
Decisions for annulment in the public interest do not change the final ruling but signify the identification of unlawfulness in the judicial process.