Drowning in red tape

For those who haven't read my profile, my husband and I are British expats who have been living in The Netherlands for the past 6.5 years. This evening we went to the local town hall to register our marriage. We were married in Rome in April of last year. As you have probably gathered, we procrastinate quite a bit...

This should have been a very straightforward process which we finally made a priority of doing so that Phil is automatically assumed to be baby M's father without having to sign a parental declaration. Unfortunately, I had underestimated Dutch law...

Under British law I have the right to assume my husband's surname on marriage. This I did at the British Consulate in Amsterdam, and I had my passport changed accordingly. My marriage certificate is an Italian legal document and in the box that shows what my married name choices are, it gives both my maiden name and husband's surname as options. With me so far? Good. Now for the problem. Under Dutch law, the town hall has to accept the entry in this particular box exactly as it is written as my married name choice. So instead of being:

Catherine Fogg (maiden name)

or:

Catherine Gleghorn (husband's surname)

The Dutch want me to be:

Catherine Fogg Gleghorn

Are you kidding me?!? So the town hall has to investigate whether British and Italian law can take precedence over Dutch law here. It is clear what was intended in the marriage certificate and this was accepted by the British Consulate. I am not a Dutch citizen so I don't see how Dutch law can be allowed to prevent me from taking my husband's surname. I will find out tomorrow or the day after what the outcome of the investigation is and if they insist on this ridiculousness then I will have to take legal advice.

Grrr.

Apologies to baby M for hijacking his blog to have a rant in. He's doing well, by the way!