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Riggins v. Stirgus

It was in the child's best interest to grant the father's application to change the child's surname to his surname since the mother and the child no longer had the same surname.

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Essa Riggins appeals from the trial court’s order granting Eric Stirgus’s application to change their son’s surname from “Riggins” to “Riggins Stirgus.”1 Riggins contends that the trial court erred in granting Stirgus’s application for a name change in the absence of evidence establishing that the name change was in the best interests of her son. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

“It is well established that factual findings made by a trial court when sitting without a jury will not be disturbed on appeal unless they are clearly erroneous or wholly unsupported by the evidence. In a bench trial, the trial court sits as the trier of fact, and it is the sole arbiter of the credibility of witnesses.” Citation, punctuation, and footnote omitted. Carden v. Warren, 269 Ga. App. 275, 276 1 a 603 SE2d 769 2004. Moreover, “the trial court has broad discretion in deciding whether to grant a request to change the name of a child, and the court’s decision will not be reversed unless it clearly abuses its discretion by ignoring the best interests of the child.” Citation, punctuation, and footnote omitted. Id. at 277 2 a.

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