(1) In the case of a change, by court order, of the name of the parents of any minor child, if the child’s birth certificate is on file in this state, the State Registrar of the Center for Health Statistics, upon receipt of a certified copy of the court order changing the name, together with the information required to locate the original birth certificate of the child, shall prepare a new birth certificate for the child in the new name of the parents of the child. The name of the parents as so changed shall be set forth in the new certificate, in place of their original name.
(2) The evidence upon which the new certificate was made, and the original certificate, shall be sealed and filed by the State Registrar of the Center for Health Statistics, and may be opened only upon demand of the person whose name was changed, if of legal age, or by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(3) When a change of name by parents will affect the name of their child under subsection (1) of this section, the court, on its own motion or on request of a child of the parents, may take testimony from or confer with the child and may exclude from the conference the parents and other persons if the court finds that such action would be in the best interests of the child. However, the court shall permit an attorney for the parents to attend the conference, and the conference shall be reported. If the court finds that a change of name would not be in the best interests of the child, the court may provide in the order changing the name of the parents that such change of name shall not affect the child, and a new birth certificate shall not be prepared for the child. [Amended by 1983 c.369 §7; 2005 c.22 §25]
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