Medical Records and Child's Last Name

[MommyX4StepX1]

Minor child, 7 years old, had name legally changed 2 years ago.  Her name is hyphenated with mom's maiden name and dad's last name.
Biomom has Full custody. Dad carries the health insurance on the minor child. Mom and Dad were never married.

Current order reads;
The parties agree that it is in the child's best interest thatmonir child shall have the name of both parents. For this purpose, the parties agree the minor child's last name shall be hyphenated to ( mom's last name- dad's last name)
In the event that the mom should marry, dad agrees to consent to a name change which will consist of a hyphenated version of the mom's married name and the dad's name. Said name change will require a civil proceeding and will be at mom's expense. Dad agrees to provide only his consent to the name change.

Before, minor child's last name was legally changed. Biomom went to a judge and the judge signed a temporary restraining order that restrained from confusing minor child by using names for her other then ( first name, middle, mom's maiden last name). Restrained from labeling the minor clothing, toys, books , publicizing, introducing minor child , ect other than her given name because the behavior confuses the minor child. Which we never did use any other names for his daughter.

Biomom continues to not use Minor Childs full legal name on medical records. This causes confusion with the health insurance and delay in payments from the insurance company. Biomom also tells minor Childs teachers that the child will only go by Moms maiden last name, leaving dad's last name off. Her 1st grade teacher didn't even know the monir child's last name was hypenated.
Biomom also tells their child that she doesn't like her dad's last name and makes her feel bad for using her full name.

I am concerned that if there was an emergency and a hospital calls for medical records on the child, if medical records would be left out if all the records were filed under different variations of her last name.
BM tends to take the child to different express cares around town.




1. Will this cause problems with medical records in the future?
2. Is it illegal not to put the child's legal name on medical records?
3. Since mom isn't using her full legal name, and my husband refuses to agree to another  name change IF mom ever marries?
4. Can my husband get a restraining order against confusing their daughter with not using her full name?
5. How do you think we should handle this?
.

[socrateaser]

>1. Will this cause problems with medical records in the
>future?

I don't know, but it seems likely.

>2. Is it illegal not to put the child's legal name on medical
>records?

Not unless the person writing the name is attempting to defraud the healthcare provider.

>3. Since mom isn't using her full legal name, and my husband
>refuses to agree to another  name change IF mom ever marries?

This is a fragment sentence -- I don't understand your question.

>4. Can my husband get a restraining order against confusing
>their daughter with not using her full name?

First, you must have the existing restraining order set aside. You must prove that the child will will suffer irreparable harm if the legal name is not generally used. Good luck.

>5. How do you think we should handle this?

Frankly, I think you ought to seriously consider just letting it go. You're not gonna win this issue unless and until the child actually gets into a jam because of the misapplication of her legal name. This may never happen, but until it does, you're just wasting your resources, because no matter what you do, the other parent will continue to sabotage your efforts. And, since the other parent has the bulk of parenting time, that parent's actions will be ingrained -- not yours.

[Kitty C.]

You have extremely valid concerns in regards to medical records.  If she is admitted to a hospital and the records cannot be located because of confusion on the name, it can (and 'has' in some cases) delay vital treatment.  I've been involved in some aspect of medical records for years and even the slightest change can throw a monkey wrench into the whole deal.  

I can't think of any medical facility that doesn't use electronic data, and if the correct name isn't imputed, the data being requested will not be found, possibly seriously delaying treatment.  It's even possible to have treatment denied, if they 'think' that the child hasn't been seen there before, because they believe there is no record on the patient, and not knowing they have the wrong name to begin with.

As for medical and school records, and as far as I know, a person's LEGAL name must always be used, just to keep instances like that from happening.  My step-niece wanted to use my brother's last name but they could not get the BF to allow the change.  The school informed the family that she can go by any name she wants during every day activities, but ALL her file data and records must have her legal name on them, including transcripts and diploma.

I will defer to Soc on what you can do about the situation, but just wanted to let you know that it IS very imperative, on both medical and academic aspects, a child's official, legal name MUST be used on all documents.

[Kitty C.]

If the BM is insisting on using ony her maiden name, especially in regards to insurance coverage, the insurance co. is bound to come after only HER for payment, since she is the only responsible party they can refer the child to.  If this happens enough, she might finally get a clue and use the hyphenated name, if only to keep from getting ALL the bills!

But you can go to the school with whatever legal document you have regarding her name and insist that it be included in her file.  Search the school district's policies or state staututes if anything is listed there, so that after they have the 'correct' info and still refuse to use it, you might have soemthing to back you up later if you need it.  

[socrateaser]

>As for medical and school records, and as far as I know, a
>person's LEGAL name must always be used, just to keep
>instances like that from happening.

When you use the word "must", you imply that there is some legal requirement, and failure to abide by the law will have some punitively legal effect. However, unless the document is a sworn certification, there is no legal prohibition for using a different name, unless there is some fraudulent intent, like attempting to avoid paying for services rendered.

But, as it's a minor child who will not be responsible for payment, it's pretty hard to prove fraudulent intent.

This is not to say that I don't believe that it is generally stupid not to consistently use the child's legal name on documents that may have some future adverse effect because of the failure to use the legal name.

Nevertheless, forcing the other parent to use the child's legal name, via a court order, will be very difficult, until some event occurs where the child is actually harmed by the parent's failure to correctly use the child's name.