What's happening
This bill allows domestic partners of crime victims to be eligible for compensation and counseling from the crime victims' board.
Why it matters
Expands support for modern families. By including “domestic partners” alongside spouses and other relatives, the bill recognizes diverse family structures and ensures that people in committed, non-marital relationships are not excluded from victim compensation and counseling programs.
Clarifies who qualifies as a domestic partner. The legislation provides a detailed, flexible definition of “domestic partner,” allowing eligibility based on legal registration, shared benefits, or clear evidence of interdependence—helping prevent confusion or unfair denial of benefits.
Addresses emotional and financial needs. By explicitly including counseling costs for eligible family members of homicide victims, the bill acknowledges the mental health impact of violent crime and seeks to reduce the financial barriers to accessing support for those grieving a loss.
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Who cares
Surviving domestic partners of crime victims
The bill would make them eligible for crime victims’ compensation when their partner dies as a direct result of a crime.
Unregistered domestic partners
They could qualify through recognition under employment benefits or health insurance, or evidence of dependence or mutual interdependence for support.
Surviving family members of homicide victims
Those otherwise eligible under the specified family-member provision could seek compensation for counseling costs as an out-of-pocket loss.
Crime victims’ compensation administrators
They would apply the new domestic-partner definition and include eligible survivors’ counseling costs in compensable out-of-pocket losses.
Headline styles
Include Partners in Victim Compensation
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to crime victims, crime and correction
Companion bills
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.
Include Partners in Victim Aid
In Senate Committee · Crime Victims, Crime And Correction · Sponsor Kevin S. Parker
Include Domestic Partners in Compensation
In Senate Committee · Crime Victims, Crime And Correction · Sponsor Deborah Glick
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
153
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 4, 2017
Introduced by Sen. SQUADRON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to eligibility of domestic partners for compensation from the crime victims' board
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 624 of the executive law, as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
(b) a surviving spouse, domestic partner, grandparent, parent, stepparent, guardian, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, child, stepchild or grandchild of a victim of a crime who died as a direct result of such crime;
§ 2. Section 624 of the executive law is amended by adding a new subdivision 1-a to read as follows:
1-a. For the purposes of this section, "domestic partner" means a person who, with respect to another person:
(a) is formally a party in a domestic partnership or similar relationship with the other person, entered into pursuant to the laws of the United States or of any state, local or foreign jurisdiction, or registered as the domestic partner of the other person with any registry maintained by the employer of either party or any state, municipality, or foreign jurisdiction; or
(b) is formally recognized as a beneficiary or covered person under the other person's employment benefits or health insurance; or
(c) is dependent or mutually interdependent on the other person for support, as evidenced by the totality of the circumstances indicating a mutual intent to be a domestic partner including but not limited to: common ownership or joint leasing of real or personal property; common
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02374-01-7
S. 153 2
householding, shared income or shared expenses; children in common; signs of intent to marry or become a domestic partner under paragraph (a) or (b) of this subdivision; or the length of the personal relationship of the persons.
§ 3. Section 626 of the executive law is amended by adding a new subdivision 4 to read as follows:
4. Out-of-pocket loss shall also include the cost of counseling for surviving family members of homicide victims who are otherwise eligible pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section six hundred twenty-four of this article.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to eligibility of domestic partners for compensation from the crime victims' board
Purpose
This bill would allow people maintaining significant and long-term, yet not legally formalized, relationships with homicide victims to be eligible for compensation from the Crime Victims Board for actual out of pocket losses and counseling expenses such people would include, for example, elderly siblings or relatives sharing living quarters in a mutually interdependent relationship, adult partners in longterm committed relationships not formalized by marriage and those who have parent-child relationships but have not entered into a formal adoption arrangement.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 would amend section 624 of the Executive Law to include domestic partner as a person who would be eligible for compensation from the Crime Victims Board when the victim died as a direct result of such crime.
Read the full memo (784 words)
Section 2 would amend section 624 of the Executive Law to add a new subdivision defining domestic partner. Domestic partner is defined as someone who is either in a domestic partnership, named as the beneficiary or covered person under the other person's employment or insurance benefits, or is dependent or mutually interdependent on the other person for support.
Section 3 amends section 626 of the executive law to add counseling for surviving family members who are already eligible under section 626 as an acceptable out of pocket loss.
Section 4 provides the effective date.
Justification
Currently, the Crime Victims Board has no authority to compensate family members of homicide victims unless such persons are a relative listed explicitly in Exec. 1. sec. 624 or unless they are principally dependent on the victim for financial support. In the absence of such financial dependence, a long-term living companion, or a person in a parent child relationship not formalized by an adoption order, may not recover under the current statute.
A recent trend in New York has been to broaden the definition of family to include persons who maintain long-term substantial relationships but not formalized by marriage licenses or orders of adoption. In fact, in response to the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001, the Governor extended the definition of family to domestic partners of victims of the attack in order to make them eligible for compensation. In addition, BRASCHI V. STAHL ASSOCIATES CO., 74 N.Y.2d 201, (1989), the Court of Appeals stated that for purposes of protection from eviction under the New York City rent control law, the term "family" not be rigidly restricted to those people who have formalized their relationship by obtaining, for instance, a marriage certificate or an adoption order.. but instead should find its foundation in the reality of family life.
ID., at 211. Such persons are readily distinguishable from "mere roommates",. ID. at 212. New York City recently initiated a new policy on paid bereavement leave for City employees who live with a partner outside of marriage. The impact of a partner's death despite the lack of legal formalization of a relationship is recognized by this legislation. Although the Crime Victims Board statute already defines "family" very broadly,
Exec., L, sec. 621 (4), definition is currently used only for narrow purposes and not to determine who should receive compensation for out of pocket loss and counseling expenses, Those persons within this broader definition of family are no less traumatized by the crime-caused death of a person with whom they maintain a committed relationship than are those who have legally formalized their relationship prior to the commission of the crime.
By combining the existing statutory definition of "family" with a requirement that the claimant show that he or she had a long-term interdependent relationship with the victim, the statute would more clearly reflect societal changes and would more fairly compensate those whose lives are forever changed by the homicide of a loved one.
Legislative history
2016: S584A/A3694 - REFERRED TO FINANCE/passed assembly 2015: S215/A4024 - REFERRED TO FINANCE/passed assembly CRIME 2014: S584/A3694 - REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION/Passed Assembly 2013: S215/A4024 - REFERRED CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION/Passed Assembly 2012: S629/A3592 - REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION/Passed Assembly 2011: S629/A3592 REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION/Passed Assembly 2010: S1422/A4089 (Schneiderman)- REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO RULES/Passed Assembly Also passed Assembly in 2009, and advanced to third reading in Assembly from 2006-2008
Fiscal implications
The Crime Victims Board has estimated that approximately $28,000 per year from existing appropriations would be required to cover awards to the additional eligible claimants under this bill.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.