Post
by Brigid from Ireland » Fri Nov 08, 2013 11:11 am
You can get the passport changed as soon as the surname of the child is legally changed. Just contact the passport office and ask the question, and they will tell you what to do.
You also need to change the surname with other government departments who may be likely to have contact with the child in the future. The most obvious is the Department of Social Protection - because the child will want to claim social welfare in his own right when he is older, so if they have the old surname it will become obvious to him. You can avoid this by changing the surname now (send the papers to social welfare and ask for his name to be changed on their system, keep a record of having done so). If the child has a pps number in his old name then you get it changed by social welfare and that covers many things, because most offices accept that your pps number refers to an accurate surname.
AFTER social welfare change the surname/pps number you should change with the school/hse/medical card also, if they have the old surname. You need to show papers to do this also.
BL