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To: UK Government

Help change the law regarding headstones

Change the law so a person's name can not be altered on their headstone after their death.

Why is this important?

I'm name after my dad, who I lost when I was fifteen years old. A few days after he died, his girlfriend bought the plot for his grave and had the rights regarding his headstone because she owned the plot. Once she bought the headstone, she changed his surname on it, despite him having two daughters (including me) with his surname. She also took it upon herself to not only change his last name on the headstone but he has no mention of being a dad on there either. I believe regardless of who owns the plot, no one should have that power over someone in death, so much so that they have the ability to completely strip them of their name and identity. A law should be put in place regarding the rights a person has to alter a name on a headstone, unless the person dead has it written in their will or has had their birth name changed legally before death.

My dad was born into this world with the same name as me, surname included, and he deserves the same respect in death. I wanted to start this petition to get the attention of anyone who can sympathise with my story and help make a change. No one has the right to tamper with a persons name in death, regardless of them owning the plot of their grave unless it’s been written in a will stating otherwise.

This issue hasn’t only effected me, and I want to make change as soon as possible so this doesn’t happen to anyone else. I’ve read multiple stories online of people experiencing something very similar. One that resonated with me deeply was of a man who had a young daughter with his ex wife. His ex wife went on to remarry, and she had every right to the headstone. She changed her late daughters surname from her own biological dads to her new husbands surname without permission from the daughter or the daughter's own biological dad. There was nothing her biological dad could do, as his ex wife had bought the plot therefore had every right to do what she wanted with the headstone. I believe these things should not happen, and I want nothing more than to make the laws regarding headstones and the ability to change a dead persons name much stricter to prevent this tragedy from happening to anyone else.

Updates

2024-04-07 12:10:15 +0100

100 signatures reached

2024-04-04 22:03:32 +0100

50 signatures reached

2024-04-04 19:40:42 +0100

25 signatures reached

2024-04-04 19:16:13 +0100

10 signatures reached