The surname of the child after the decision of the italian constitutional court

In a context in which the plurality of family models is fully recognized and the possibility of creating families that overlap over time, the surname attribution rule should allow to define in the most precise, detailed and lasting way possible the identity of the family and the personal identity of each of its components by clearly and completely identifying the relationships of belonging to the parental lineages. In this perspective, the declaration of constitutional illegitimacy of the rules that impose the automatic attribution of the paternal surname and the identification of the rule of the attribution of the double surname which can only be derogated from by the parents’ agreement on the one hand, completes the path aimed at achieving a full equality between father and mother, but, on the other hand, it opens up complex issues. In particular, the need to ensure effective protection of the child’s personal identity suggests the opportunity to give the double surname rule a mandatory character, excluding the possibility of derogating from it on the basis of a mere parental agreement. The attribution of a single surname, in fact, would give rise to an only partial perception of the identity of the child, generating a vision of his belonging to the parental lineages which, especially in the perspective of stepfamilies, would generate inappropriate distortions in the perception of identity of the individuals and of the family as a whole.