Me and my girlfriend are having a baby in June. Both of us are expats, me being Scottish and her Argentinian. Somebody told me unless I marry her before the birth it will be impossible for the baby to have my name even if we subsequently get married. Can anybody confirm this or point me in the direction of further info? Is there any way around this?
The law re naming of children has changed on 1st Jan this year, so check all links are current. From the top of my head I can remember that either mother or father can give name from 1st of Jan, but that they won't be able to give both (as in double barrel which was allowed until 31st Dec [like: Jonathan Smith-Jones] Whether this is the case for un-married couples, I am not sure. Best to check with your local civil registry office for sure.
Baby can have your last name there is just paperwork required which your local stadthaus should be able to direct you to the correct department. (Sorry, I can't remember the right name). You will be signing paperwork declaring that you are the father (paternity declaration) and this can be done before the birth (which is less hassle and cheaper than waiting until after baby is born).
We had to give them copies of our birth certificates which had been issued within 6 months and a declaration of civil status which required a trip to the UK embassy in Bern (we both have UK passports).
After baby is born you will be required to draw up a 'maintenance contract' which details care arrangements etc in case you ever seperate. We had a meeting with a case worker who draw this up. With all meetings we also had to take a translator so we fully understand all the legal implementations.
Start on the paperwork side now as it can take time and of course it all costs money...
People need to understand that marriage is not just a piece of paper, here or in other countries. It is a legal, binding contract between two people and should not be entered into lightly. It affects your assets, debts, housing, cars, children, retirement, taxes, insurance, inheritance, and probably a few other things I have not mentioned.
If the only reason OP has to marry is to ensure the child has his name, I would advise against marriage. However if he and his girlfriend plan to marry anyway and the baby's arrival just speeds up the process then that is fine. They could probably get married in Scotland to simplify paperwork.
Getting married is probably less 'heavy duty' than the responsibility of having children. I have walked out of a marriage before, but I have never walked out on my children.
I have a number friends that married young thinking it was a commitment forever. Sadly a few years down the track that D word reared its ugly head. Thankfully there were no children involved so once the 'legal' formalities were completed they could go their seperate way and put it behind them. No need for further contact.
I am not against marriage but I do see having children the greater commitment between the two....
For us, unmarried EU-citizens of 2 different countries, the swiss law says we can choose our own country's law for the last name of the child. Since your partner is Argentinian, I'm not sure how the rules are different than for us, both EU.
What we did, is find out what the law is about last names in our own countries and apply the law we wanted. Switzerland was fine with our choice (our 2 last names hyphenated) and a letter from the consulate confirming that that last name is legal in our home country, was sufficient.
In this link it says: "Les parents de nationalité suisse domiciliés à l’étranger ou les parents de nationalité étrangère peuvent demander que le nom de famille de l’enfant soit régi par leur droit national. Dans ce cas, ils doivent en faire la requête au moment de la déclaration de la naissance et signer une déclaration de nom auprès de l’office de l’état civil."
So seems like you can choose you country's law if it suits you better. Beware that for us, the "reconnaissance de paternité" took a super long time (like 6 months), due to our embassies being slow buggers. So you may want to get the procedure started asap...
Me and my partner (not married) are in the process of getting birth certificate for our baby. It's possible to declare that he is the father. He will need to provide a "single status" statement from the American Embassy (he is american) and a recent statement of his birth certificate.
If may varies from state to state, the safest approach is to check the commune you live now.
That was my first reaction when I learned of this, but it actually makes sense: Switzerland wants to make it harder for a man to recognize a child resulting of an affair. If he is married with another woman, they would then contact his wife to warn her about this child!
Watch out about the paternity declaration: it might not be universally valid, meaning that you could be recognized as the father in Swiss and Scottish law but not Argentinian law, for instance. So this needs to be clarified with your home embassies as well (it might matter if you have assets at home, for nationality, etc).
I know this from (very) current personal experience, where my home country told me they would not recognize the Swiss act.
Wrong conclusion , it is to do with inheritance law. Making a will is not common over here and the law is very complex about how things get divided up, so in good Swiss fashion everything must be recorded for the day it might come into play.
I believe that the child also takes the name of the husband if the woman is married, even if the paternity issue is sorted out. If the mother remarries and takes her new husbands name then the child also takes the new family name.