DRL 111-A Domestic Relations Law 111-A
Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of this or any other law, and in addition to the notice requirements of any law pertaining to persons other than those specified in subdivision two of this section, notice as provided herein shall be given to the persons specified in subdivision two of this section of any adoption proceeding initiated pursuant to this article or of any proceeding initiated pursuant to section one hundred fifteen-b of this article relating to the revocation of an adoption consent, when such proceeding involves a child born out-of-wedlock provided, however, that such notice shall not be required to be given: (a) in the case of the adoption of a child transferred to the custody and guardianship of an authorized agency, foster parent, or relative pursuant to section three hundred eighty-four-b of the social services law or a child transferred to the custody and guardianship of an authorized agency pursuant to section three hundred eighty-three-c of the social services law; or (b) to any person who has previously received notice of any proceeding pursuant to section one hundred fifteen-b of this article. In addition to such other requirements as may be applicable to the petition in any proceeding in which notice must be given pursuant to this section, the petition shall set forth the names and last known addresses of all persons required to be given notice of the proceeding, pursuant to this section, and there shall be shown by the petition or by affidavit or other proof satisfactory to the court that there are no persons other than those set forth in the petition who are entitled to notice. For the purpose of determining persons entitled to notice of adoption proceedings initiated pursuant to this article, persons specified in subdivision two of this section shall not include any person who has been convicted of one or more of the following sexual offenses in this state or convicted of one or more offenses in another jurisdiction which, if committed in this state, would constitute one or more of the following offenses, when the child who is the subject of the proceeding was conceived as a result: (A) rape in first or second degree; (B) course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree; (C) predatory sexual assault; or (D) predatory sexual assault against a child.
Persons entitled to notice, pursuant to subdivision one of this section, shall include:
(a) any person adjudicated by a court in this state to be the father of the child;
(b) any person adjudicated by a court of another state or territory of the United States to be the father of the child, when a certified copy of the court order has been filed with the putative father registry, pursuant to section three hundred seventy-two-c of the social services law;
(c) any person who has timely filed an unrevoked notice of intent to claim paternity of the child, pursuant to section three hundred seventy-two-c of the social services law;
(d) any person who is recorded on the child’s birth certificate as the child’s father;
(e) any person who is openly living with the child and the child’s mother at the time the proceeding is initiated and who is holding himself out to be the child’s father;
(f) any person who has been identified as the child’s father by the mother in written, sworn statement;
(g) any person who was married to the child’s mother within six months subsequent to the birth of the child and prior to the execution of a surrender instrument or the initiation of a proceeding pursuant to section three hundred eighty-four-b of the social services law; and
(h) any person who has filed with the putative father registry an instrument acknowledging paternity of the child, pursuant to section 4-1.2 of the estates, powers and trusts law.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to persons entitled to notice pursuant to section one hundred eleven.
The sole purpose of notice under this section shall be to enable the person served pursuant to subdivision two to present evidence to the court relevant to the best interests of the child.
Notice under this section shall be given at least twenty days prior to the proceeding by delivery of a copy of the petition and notice to the person. Upon a showing to the court, by affidavit or otherwise, on or before the date of the proceeding or within such further time as the court may allow, that personal service cannot be effected at the person’s last known address with reasonable effort, notice may be given, without prior court order therefor, at least twenty days prior to the proceeding by registered or certified mail directed to the person’s last known address or, where the person has filed a notice of intent to claim paternity pursuant to section three hundred seventy-two-c of the social services law, to the address last entered therein. Notice by publication shall not be required to be given to a person entitled to notice pursuant to the provisions of this section.
A person may waive his right to notice under this section by written instrument subscribed by him and acknowledged or proved in the manner required for the execution of a surrender instrument pursuant to section three hundred eighty-four of the social services law.
The notice given to persons pursuant to this section shall inform them of the time, date, place and purpose of the proceeding and shall also apprise such persons that their failure to appear shall constitute a denial of their interest in the child which denial may result, without further notice, in the adoption or other disposition of the custody of the child.
No order of adoption and no order of the court pursuant to section one hundred fifteen-b shall be vacated, annulled or reversed upon the application of any person who was properly served with notice in accordance with this section but failed to appear, or who waived notice pursuant to subdivision five. Nor shall any order of adoption be vacated, annulled or reversed upon the application of any person who was properly served with notice in accordance with this section in any previous proceeding pursuant to section one hundred fifteen-b in which the court determined that the best interests of the child would be served by adoption of the child by the adoptive parents.
Matter of Nina M. (Naquwan T.), 2016 NY Slip Op 00456, ¶ 1, 135 A.D.3d 623, 623-24, 22 N.Y.S.3d 874, 874 (App. Div. 1st Dept.)
Family Court correctly found that petitioner failed to demonstrate that he was a person entitled to notice of the adoption and termination of parental rights proceedings (see Domestic Relations Law § 111-a [2] [a]-[h]; Social Services Law § 384-c [2] [a]-[h]). Although he claimed to have lived with the child’s mother at the time of the child’s birth, he did not claim to have ever lived with the child, who was placed into foster care from the hospital shortly after her birth (see Domestic Relations Law § 111-a [2] [e]; Social Services Law § 384-c [2] [e]).
Moreover, petitioner failed to demonstrate that the adoption of the child by her kinship foster mother, who cared for her since her birth, was not in the child’s best interests (see Matter of Asia Sonia J. [Lawrence J.], 74 AD3d 437, 438, 902 NYS2d 70 [1st Dept 2010]).
DRL 111-B Domestic Relations Law 111-B
In the course of an adoption proceeding conducted pursuant to this article the surrogate shall have jurisdiction to determine any issue of paternity arising in the course of the same proceeding and to make findings and issue an order thereon.
Such determination shall be made substantially in accordance with the relevant and otherwise consistent provisions of the family court act except that the surrogate shall have no power to grant any relief relating to support of the child as an incident thereto.
A judge of the family court shall continue to exercise all of the powers relating to adoption and declaration of paternity conferred upon the family court by law.
1 LN AnswerGuide NY Family Court Proceedings § 6.11
The surrogate’s court has concurrent original jurisdiction to establish paternity. FCA § 511. Although the surrogate’s court lacks jurisdiction to hear paternity petitions, it may determine any issue of paternity arising in the course of an adoption. DRL § 111-b. It may also determine paternity in determining inheritance rights.
DRL 111-C Domestic Relations Law 111-C
A final judgment of adoption granted by a judicial, administrative or executive body of a jurisdiction or country other than the United States shall have the same force and effect in this state as that given to a judgment of adoption entered by a court of competent jurisdiction of New York state, without additional proceedings or documentation provided:
(a) either adopting parent is a resident of this state; and
(b) the validity of the foreign adoption has been verified by the granting of an IR-3, IH-3, or a successor immigrant visa, for the child by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule or regulation to the contrary, an adoptive parent referred to in subdivision one of this section shall not be required to petition a court in this state for adoption of the child provided the conditions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision one of this section are met. The foreign adoption shall be considered “final” under the laws of New York state upon the satisfaction of paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision one of this section.
Either adoptive parent or a guardian or a guardian ad litem may register the order in this state with the judge or surrogate of the county in which the adoptive parent or parents reside. A petition for registration of a foreign adoption order may be combined with a petition for a name change. If the court finds that the foreign adoption order meets the requirements of subdivision one of this section, the court shall issue a finding as to aspects of the foreign adoption, to wit, the names of the adoptive parents, the name or names and reported birth date of the adoptive child, the country of the adoptive child’s birth, the country and the date of the foreign adoption, the state residency of the adoptive parent or parents and adoptive child, and a finding as to the date and issuance of an IR-3, IH-3, or a successor immigrant visa; and, the court shall issue an order of adoption to the party who has petitioned for such an order.
The judge or surrogate is hereby directed to expedite the issuance of an order of adoption pursuant to the provisions of subdivision three of this section in order to ensure minimal expense of time and money to the petitioning parties in attaining such order of adoption.
Matter of Child A. (Parent M.), 2018 NY Slip Op 05839, ¶ 1, 164 A.D.3d 781, 781-82, 81 N.Y.S.3d 199, 200 (App. Div. 2nd Dept.)
In related proceedings to “deny recognition” of an order of adoption pursuant to Domestic Relations Law § 111-c or, in the alternative, to vacate the order of adoption pursuant to Domestic Relations Law § 114 (3), the petitioners appeal from an order of the Surrogate’s Court, Nassau County (Edward W. McCarty III, S.), dated November 30, 2015. The order awarded the guardian ad litem an interim attorney’s fee in the sum of $100,000 for all services rendered through August 5, 2015, payable by the petitioners.
Ordered that the order is modified, on the facts and in the exercise of discretion, by deleting the provision thereof awarding the guardian ad litem an interim attorney’s fee in the sum of $100,000 for all services rendered through August 5, 2015, and substituting therefor a provision awarding the guardian ad litem an interim attorney’s fee in the sum of $53,000 for all services rendered through August 5, 2015; as so modified, the order is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
The petitioners were the adoptive parents of two Russian-born children (hereinafter together the children), pursuant to an order of adoption entered in 2008 by a Russian court (hereinafter the adoption order). In June 2014, the petitioners commenced these proceedings seeking an order “denying recognition” of the adoption order, pursuant to Domestic Relations Law § 111-c, or, in the alternative, vacating the adoption order, pursuant to Domestic Relations Law § 114 (3) on the grounds of fraud and newly discovered evidence. In July 2014, the Surrogate’s Court appointed a guardian ad litem for the children (hereinafter the GAL).
DRL 111-D Domestic Relations Law 111-D
The court may not deny or decide a petition for adoption solely on the basis that the petitioner is blind. The blindness of the petitioner shall be considered relevant only to the extent that the court finds, based on evidence in the record, that the blindness affects the best interests of the child whose adoption is the subject of the petition.
As used in this section, “blind” or “blindness” means:
vision that is 20/200 or less in the best corrected eye; or
vision that subtends an angle of not greater than twenty degrees in the best corrected eye.
2 NY Practice Guide: Domestic Relations § 34.02
Pursuant to DRL § 75-m and FCA § 658, enacted in 2021, a court may not deny or decide a petition for guardianship, custody or visitation solely on the basis that the petitioner is blind. The blindless of the petitioner is only relevant to the extent that the court finds, based upon evidence in the record, that the blindless affects the best interests of the subject child.