The applicant mother sought an order dispensing with the respondent father's consent to change their seven-year-old daughter's surname from McDonough to either Pastran-McDonough or McDonough-Pastran.
The parents had joint custody pursuant to a Separation Agreement that required mutual consent for name changes.
The father withheld consent and argued that no material change in circumstances had occurred since the Agreement was signed.
The court granted the mother's motion, finding that the proposed name change was in the child's best interests.
The court rejected the material change threshold as inapplicable to Change of Name Act applications and applied the statutory best interests test instead.
