What's happening
This bill updates various estate and court laws to use gender-neutral language and ensure consistency with marriage equality.
Why it matters
Removes gendered terms like “paternal,” “maternal,” “father,” and “mother” from inheritance and court process laws, replacing them with neutral terms such as “parental side” and “parents.”. This change ensures that laws surrounding estates and family proceedings apply equally regardless of the gender or composition of a child’s parents, which is particularly important for families headed by same-sex couples.
Clarifies inheritance rules for grandparents and great-grandchildren by shifting from the gendered distinction of “paternal” and “maternal” sides to “one parental side” and “the other parental side.”. This makes the law more inclusive and removes ambiguity for children with same-sex or non-binary parents, ensuring their rights to inheritance are clear and protected.
Updates language in property, adoption, and guardianship statutes to reflect the reality of diverse family structures post-marriage equality. For example, real property can now be left to “spouses, husbands, or wives” rather than just “husband and wife,” and references to “either parent” replace “father or mother,” supporting fair treatment of all parents in legal proceedings.
Promotes consistency and accuracy in legal documents and proceedings by aligning statutory language with current social and legal standards. This reduces the risk of confusion or challenges based on outdated gendered terms and helps ensure that all families are treated equally under New York State law.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Update Inheritance for Marriage Equality
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Referred to judiciary
- Delivered to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading cal.267
- Returned to assembly
- Died in senate
- Referred to judiciary
- Delivered to senate
- Passed assembly
- Advanced to third reading cal.197
- Reported
- Referred to judiciary
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Update Inheritance for Equality
In Senate Committee · Rules · Sponsor Brad Hoylman-Sigal
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3387
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 27, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. O'DONNELL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the estates, powers and trusts law and the surrogate's court procedure act, in relation to making technical corrections related to marriage equality
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subparagraphs 6 and 7 of paragraph (a) of section 4-1.1 of the estates, powers and trusts law, as amended by chapter 595 of the laws of 1992, are amended to read as follows:
(6) One or more grandparents or the issue of grandparents (as hereinafter defined), and no spouse, issue, parent or issue of parents, onehalf to the surviving [paternal] grandparent or grandparents of one parental side, or if neither of them survives the decedent, to their issue, by representation, and the other one-half to the surviving [maternal] grandparent or grandparents of the other parental side, or if neither of them survives the decedent, to their issue, by representation; provided that if the decedent was not survived by a grandparent or grandparents on one side or by the issue of such grandparents, the whole to the surviving grandparent or grandparents on the other side, or if neither of them survives the decedent, to their issue, by representation, in the same manner as the one-half. For the purposes of this subparagraph, issue of grandparents shall not include issue more remote than grandchildren of such grandparents.
(7) Great-grandchildren of grandparents, and no spouse, issue, parent, issue of parents, grandparent, children of grandparents or grandchildren of grandparents, one-half to the great-grandchildren of the [paternal] grandparents of one parental side, per capita, and the other one-half to the great-grandchildren of the [maternal] grandparents of the other parental side, per capita; provided that if the decedent was not survived by great-grandchildren of grandparents on one side, the whole
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04185-01-7
A. 3387 2
to the great-grandchildren of grandparents on the other side, in the same manner as the one-half.
§ 2. Paragraph (d) of section 6-2.2 of the estates, powers and trusts law, as amended by chapter 480 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows:
(d) A disposition of real property, or a disposition on or after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-six of the shares of stock of a cooperative apartment corporation allocated to an apartment or unit together with the appurtenant proprietary lease, to persons who are not legally married to one another but who are described in the disposition as husband and wife, spouses, husbands, or wives creates in them a joint tenancy, unless expressly declared to be a tenancy in common.
§ 3. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 of section 1001 of the surrogate's court procedure act, as amended by chapter 595 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
(d) [the father or mother] either parent,
§ 4. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 1310 of the surrogate's court procedure act, as amended by chapter 514 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
(c) [the father or mother] either parent,
§ 5. Subdivision 2 of section 1704 of the surrogate's court procedure act, as amended by chapter 404 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
2. The names of the [father and the mother] parents whose consent to the adoption of a child would have been required pursuant to section one hundred eleven of the domestic relations law or who was entitled to notice of an adoption proceeding pursuant to section one hundred eleven-a of the domestic relations law, and whether or not they are living or have had their parental rights terminated pursuant to section three hundred eighty-three-c, section three hundred eighty-four or section three hundred eighty-four-b of the social services law or section six hundred thirty-one of the family court act, and if living, their domiciles, the name and address of the person with whom the infant resides and the names and addresses of the nearest distributees of full age who are domiciliaries, if both [father and mother] parents are dead.
§ 6. Subdivision 3 of section 1752 of the surrogate's court procedure act, as amended by chapter 198 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
3. the names of the [father, the mother] parents, children, adult siblings if eighteen years of age or older, the spouse and primary care physician if other than a physician having submitted a certification with the petition, if any, of the person who is intellectually disabled or a person who is developmentally disabled and whether or not they are living, and if living, their addresses and the names and addresses of the nearest distributees of full age who are domiciliaries, if both parents are dead;
§ 7. This act shall take effect immediately.
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