BILL NO. 59

(as introduced)

3rd Session, 63rd General Assembly
Nova Scotia
70 Elizabeth II, 2021

 

Private Member's Bill

 

Vital Statistics Act
(amended)

 

Susan Leblanc
Dartmouth North

First Reading: March 24, 2021

(Explanatory Note)

Second Reading:

Third Reading:

Explanatory Note

This Bill amends the Vital Statistics Act to

(a) strike out the definition of "married woman";

(b) replace varying obligations for the registration of the birth of child based on the marital status of the parents with one set of requirements for all parents regardless of marital status;

(c) repeal a provision respecting the legitimation of a child born to unmarried parents; and

(d) remove an obsolete reference to "lawful wedlock".

An Act to Amend Chapter 494
of the Revised Statutes, 1989,
the Vital Statistics Act

Be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:

1 Clause 2(m) of Chapter 494 of the Revised Statutes, 1989, the Vital Statistics Act, is repealed.

2 (1) Subsection 4(2) of Chapter 494 is repealed and the following subsection substituted:

(2) Within thirty days after the birth of a child in the Province,

(a) a parent of the child or the parents of the child;

(b) where the persons referred to in clause (a) are incapable, a person who stands in the place of a parent of the child;

(c) where there is no person to whom clause (a) or (b) applies, the person required to give notice of the birth under Section 3; or

(d) where there is no person to whom clause (a), (b) or (c) applies, the occupier of the premises in which the child is born,

shall complete and deliver or mail a statement in the prescribed form respecting the birth to the division registrar.

(2) Subsections 4(4) to (9) of Chapter 494 are repealed and the following subsections substituted:

(4) A child's surname must be determined as follows:

(a) where both parents complete the statement referred in subsection (2), they may agree to give the child a surname chosen by them;

(b) where both parents complete the statement referred in subsection (2) but do not agree on the child's surname, the child shall be given

(i) the parents' surname, if they have the same surname, or

(ii) a surname consisting of both parents' surnames hyphenated or combined in alphabetical order, if they have different surnames;

(c) where one parent completes the statement referred in subsection (2) and the other parent is incapable by reason of illness or death, the parent who completes the statement may give the child a surname chosen by that parent;

(d) where a parent completes the statement referred in subsection (2) and the other parent is unknown to or unacknowledged by the parent, the parent may give the child a surname of the parent's choosing;

(e) where a person who is not the child's parent completes the statement referred in subsection (2), the child shall be given

(i) the parents' surname, if they have the same surname,

(ii) a surname consisting of both parents' surnames hyphenated or combined in alphabetical order, if they have different surnames, or

(iii) if only one parent is known, that parent's surname.

(5) Where a child has more than two parents, subsection (4) does not apply and the child's surname must be determined as follows:

(a) where two or more parents complete the statement referred in subsection (2), they may agree to give the child a surname chosen by them;

(b) where any of the parents are incapable of completing the statement referred in subsection (2) by reason of illness or death,

(i) the remaining parents who complete the statement may agree to give the child a surname chosen by them, or

(ii) if there is only one remaining parent who completes the statement referred in subsection (2), that parent may determine the child's surname;

(c) where two or more parents complete the statement referred in subsection (2) but do not agree on the child's surname, the child shall be given a surname consisting of each of the completing parents' surnames hyphenated or combined in alphabetical order, except that where any of those parents share a surname it is to be used only once; and

(d) where a person who is not the child's parent completes the statement referred in subsection (2), the child shall be given the surname of the person who gave birth to the child.

3 Section 6 of Chapter 494 is repealed.

4 Subsection 13(2) of Chapter 494 is amended by striking out "in lawful wedlock" in the fifteenth line.

 

---

This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 2021 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created March 24, 2021. Send comments to legc.office@novascotia.ca.