In the future, common double names should be allowed, with or without a hyphen. If the Minister of Justice’s draft law comes into force, this will also apply to the children of unmarried couples.
Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) published the draft law to modernize naming rights in Berlin on Tuesday. The choice of married and maiden names should be simplified and allow more options. The core of the draft is the introduction of real double names for married couples and children. In the future, according to the draft, spouses should be able to determine both names as double names and common married names. Your children can get this too.
So far, only one or one of the two spouses can add their own name to the common married name. In principle, children are not given double names. Buschmann’s draft now provides that the children of married and unmarried couples can bear the names of both parents as a double name. The Minister of Justice said it was about “more freedom and flexibility in the right to a name”. Real double names correspond to the desire of many couples.
Everything is allowed: Schmitz-Koppe, Schmitz Koppe, Koppe Schmitz
After the marriage, Mr. Schmitz and Mrs. Koppe could both be called Schmitz-Koppe, Schmitz Koppe, Koppe Schmitz or Koppe-Schmitz. The possibility that both are called just Koppe or just Schmitz remains, as does the variant that everyone keeps their surname and no common surname is defined. If a couple decides on a double name as their married name, their children will also have it.
According to the ideas of the Federal Ministry of Justice, in future a non-married couple should also have the opportunity to give their child a double name. If the parents are called Hoff and Binz, their daughter Luise, for whom they both have custody, could be called Hoff-Binz, Binz-Hoff, Hoff Binz or Binz Hoff. The conventional variant of naming the child Luise Binz or Luise Hoff is also allowed.
Name changes after a divorce would also be made easier if the law were passed in this way. This applies to children for whom only one parent has custody and who also live with this parent. For example, if the mother takes her maiden name again, this will also be easier for the child in the future than it is today. The traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP had agreed to liberalize naming rights in the coalition agreement.