S. Ct. Civ. No. 2013-0131

A Superior Court order denying a father's petition to change the first name of his minor child is affirmed. An name change application may be granted by the Superior Court, but only for sufficient reasons consistent with the public interest and satisfactory to the court, as provided in 16 V.I.C. § 181. In this case, the Superior Court held the hearing required by 16 V.I.C. § 182, and denied the petition because it found that the father's signature on a Voluntary Certificate of Parentage had been not been fraudulently obtained. This finding was not clearly erroneous. The evidence from a notary at the Office of Vital Statistics of the Department of Health corroborated the mother's testimony that the father signed the completed document in the notary's presence. On appeal the court does not re-weigh the evidence or make new findings of fact, but simply determines whether there is minimum evidentiary support for the trial court's decision. In this case, the Superior Court was well within its right to find the notary's testimony credible, and to conclude that the Voluntary Certificate of Parentage was properly executed. Consequently, the Superior Court committed no error in denying the father's name-change petition, and its November 6, 2013 order is affirmed.