You can change her name by deed poll but this is NOT recognised in the Philippines. I am currently going through this at the moment with my step daughter who also wants the same surname as myself and her mum. We decided on adoption which we are going through the process of at the moment. In the first instance you need to contact your local authority and also the local family court and just explain what you are trying to do, they will send leaflets/forms etc which will explain all.

One thing we have had to do though is get an NBI clearance from the Philippines for my wife. This has been particularly difficult as Tacloban is still badly affected post Yolanda and in order to order a new clearance meant we had to go to the Philippine Embassy in London and complete a fingerprint card/ have it sent to us to send on to a relative back home to get it processed by the NBI. Needless to say we are still waiting for it!

If you go down the adoption route then you get intervied numerous times by a social worker asking all sorts of questions about your past etc etc. Having said that, our social worker is very nice and the whole thing so far has been quite a pleasant experience.

Hope this helps