Should Married Women Keep Their Maiden Last Name?

It’s all over the news yesterday, right? The House of Representatives has approved the bill that will allow married women to keep their maiden last names — totally not adapting their husband’s last name — in their IDs and other transactions. I personally thought this was a “given” — I was actually surprised that it

How to Correct Your LAST NAME in Your PSA Birth Certificate

Of all the “names” in a birth certificate, I always thought it was the Last Name that would entail the most complicated correction processes.  Before I dove into my research on civil registration, I always believed that the only way you can have your last name corrected is by employing the services of a lawyer.

What’s In A Last Name: What Last Name to Give Your Child if You are Not Yet Married to His Father

Of all the questions and clarifications we regularly receive through this blog, changing the last name of an illegitimate child tops our list.  These questions often come from single moms who either: Gave their maiden last name to their illegitimate child and now wants the child to use the last name of the biological father;

Problems with NSO Birth Certificate: Single Mom Wants to Change Her Child’s Last Name

Illegitimate children are able to carry their father’s last name by virtue of an Affidavit of Acknowledgment and an Affidavit to Use the Surname of the Father (AUSF).  Should the parents decide to get married later on, the illegitimate children’s birth rights may also be changed from “illegitimate” to “legitimate” through the process of Legitimation

Problems with NSO Birth Certificate: Illegitimate, No Birth Certificate, and Not Acknowledged by her Mother

Alona is an illegitimate child, born to parents who were barely out of their teens.  Her mother gave her up for adoption when she was just a few days old, in exchange for a plane ticket from Manila to Iloilo.  She was never heard of from again.  Upon learning that his daughter was given to

Problems with NSO Birth Certificate: Middle and Last Names Were Interchanged

What if you found out that your last and middle names were interchanged so that you are actually carrying your mother’s maiden last name as your last name?  How do you correct these kinds of errors in your NSO Birth Certificate (now PSA Birth Certificate)? This error is considered an error in encoding and can