What's happening
This bill creates a streamlined confirmatory adoption process, recognizes multi-parent families, and allows courts to grant custody and support from more than two parents.
Why it matters
Ensures Equal Parental Rights for Non-Biological and LGBTQ+ Parents. By streamlining confirmatory adoptions, this bill addresses barriers that non-biological parents—especially in LGBTQ+ families or those using assisted reproduction—often face in securing legal recognition, thus protecting parental rights and family stability.
Legally Recognizes Multi-Parent Families. The bill allows children to have more than two legal parents if it serves their best interests, reflecting the realities of modern families and ensuring that all individuals who play a significant parenting role can be legally responsible for and connected to the child.
Expands Court Authority on Custody and Support. Courts may now award custody and assign financial support obligations to more than two parents, which can increase financial and caregiving resources for children but also creates new legal considerations for parental duties and decision-making.
Protects Against Abusive Claims of Parentage. The legislation includes safeguards that allow existing parents to contest claims of parentage by demonstrating abuse, coercion, or duress, ensuring that the process cannot be misused by individuals seeking parental rights through harmful or manipulative behavior.
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Let Courts Recognize More Parents
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Recommit, enacting clause stricken
- Referred to children and families
Full text
8 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
465
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the domestic relations law and the family court act, in relation to establishing confirmatory adoptions and allowing courts to grant the custody and support from more than two parents
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 109 of the domestic relations law is amended by adding a new subdivision 8 to read as follows:
8. "Confirmatory adoption" shall mean an adoption of a child by an existing legal parent pursuant to title five of this article.
§ 2. Article 7 of the domestic relations law is amended by adding a new title 5 to read as follows:
TITLE V
CONFIRMATORY ADOPTIONS
Section 119. Purpose of title.
119-a. Eligibility to file for confirmatory adoption.
119-b. Procedure on application for confirmatory adoption.
119-c. Multi-parent adoption. § 119. Purpose of title. The purpose of this title is to create a streamlined adoption process for a child's parents to confirm their parent-child relationship through an adoption in order to protect the child's best interests. Such adoption process shall ensure all parents are afforded full rights and protections equivalent to that of biological parents, especially for children conceived through assisted reproduction.
§ 119-a. Eligibility to file for confirmatory adoption. 1. Parents of a child may file a joint petition for a confirmatory adoption to confirm their parentage. Those eligible include the child's intended parents as
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01942-01-5
defined in section 581-102 of the family court act and the current or former spouse of a birthing parent, provided that the person is named on the child's birth certificate as a parent.
2. All living parents of a child seeking to file for confirmatory adoption pursuant to subdivision one of this section shall jointly file a petition for a judgment of adoption with the court and include:
(a) proof of marriage between the petitioners, entered into prior to the birth of the child; or
(b) a government-issued birth certificate listing petitioners as parents of the child.
§ 119-b. Procedure on application for confirmatory adoption. 1. Along with the complaint for a final judgment of adoption, an individual or individuals seeking adoption shall file a petition with the court certifying the following:
(a) the applicant's name or applicants' names, residential address and telephone number;
(b) a statement by the applicant or applicants that they are seeking certification by the court as a person or persons qualified to adopt the child to whom they are already a legal parent;
(c) a statement by the applicant or applicants that all the child's living parent's consent to the confirmatory adoption; and
(d) a written declaration signed by all parties to the action that describes in sufficient detail how the child was conceived and identifies any other involved parties so that the court may determine whether those individuals have parental rights to the child.
2. The court shall issue a judgment of adoption confirming parties to the action as the legal parents of the child without the need for an appearance by the parties.
3. If there are any other individuals with a claim to parentage, the court may determine if the parental rights of that individual have been relinquished or terminated and proceed without a hearing pursuant to subdivision two of this section.
4. The court shall, if it determines that another individual may have existing parental rights to the child, order and conduct a hearing on the matter, provided notice is given to all parties of the action, before issuing a judgment of adoption. If the court finds there is a competing claim of parentage and all parties do not consent to such claim, the court shall dismiss the petition without prejudice and the parties may refile their adoption petition pursuant to section one hundred fifteen of this article.
5. The court filing fees and other certification, investigation, and criminal background check requirements for private-placement adoptions pursuant to section one hundred fifteen-d or one hundred sixteen of this article shall not apply.
6. Nothing in this title shall be deemed to summarily extinguish or terminate the parental rights of any individual.
7. The chief administrator of the court shall promulgate the necessary rules to effectuate the provisions of this title.
§ 119-c. Multi-parent adoption. 1. The termination of the parental duties and responsibilities of an existing parent or parents pursuant to section one hundred eleven of this article may be waived if both the existing parent or parents and the prospective adoptive parent or parents consent to such waiver in writing at any time prior to the finalization of the adoption. Such written consent shall be filed with the court.
2. After receipt of the waiver pursuant to subdivision one of this section, if the prospective adoptive parent has already been recognized to be one of more than two legal parents of the child, the court may proceed with the confirmatory adoptive process pursuant to section one hundred nineteen-b of this title.
§ 3. The family court act is amended by adding a new article 5-D to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5-D
PRESUMPTION OF PARENTAGE
PART 1. General provisions (582-101)
2. De facto parent (582-102 - 582-104)
3. Court adjudication of parentage for a child with multiple
parents (582-105 - 582-106)
PART 1
GENERAL PROVISIONS Section 582-101. Presumption of parentage.
§ 582-101. Presumption of parentage. (a) An individual is presumed to be a parent of a child if, except as otherwise provided under section 581-406 of this chapter, the individual and the person who gave birth to the child:
(1) are married to each other and the child is born during the marriage, whether the marriage is or could be declared invalid;
(2) are married to each other and the child is born no later than three hundred days after the marriage is terminated by death, divorce, dissolution, annulment, or declaration of invalidity, or after a decree of separation or separate maintenance, whether the marriage is or could be declared invalid; or
(3) have married each other after the birth of the child, whether the marriage is or could be declared invalid, and the individual at any time asserted parentage of the child and:
(i) the assertion is in a record filed with a state agency maintaining birth records;
(ii) the individual agreed to be and is named as a parent of the child on the birth certificate of the child; or
(iii) the individual resided in the same household with the child and openly held out the child as the individual's own child from the time the child was born or adopted and for a period of at least two years thereafter, including any period of temporary absence.
(b) A presumption of parentage under this section may be overcome, and competing claims to parentage may be resolved, only by an adjudication under section 582-105 of this article.
PART 2
DE FACTO PARENT Section 582-102. Definitions.
582-103. Eligibility for a de facto parent to file for a judg-
ment of parentage.
582-104. Procedure for a de facto parent to file for a judgment
of parentage.
§ 582-102. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Parentage" means the continuing relationship between a child and their parents, which can be shared, in certain circumstances, by more than two parents, each having a degree of responsibility.
(b) "De facto parent" means a person who exercised parental responsibility for the child and acted in a parental role from birth, or for at least one year, to have established a bonded and dependent relationship with the child that is parental in nature.
§ 582-103. Eligibility for a de facto parent to file for a judgment of parentage. (a) In a proceeding to adjudicate parentage of a person who claims to be a de facto parent of the child, if there is only one other person who is a parent or has a claim to parentage of the child, the court shall adjudicate the petitioner to be a parent of the child if the person demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that:
(1) The person resided with the child as a regular member of the child's household from the child's birth, or for at least one year, unless the court finds good cause to accept a shorter period of residence as a regular member of the child's household;
(2) The person engaged in consistent caretaking of the child which may include regularly caring for the child's needs and making day-to-day decisions regarding the child individually or cooperatively with another legal parent;
(3) The person undertook full and permanent responsibilities of a parent of the child without expectation of financial compensation;
(4) The person held out the child as their own;
(5) Another person consented to, and fostered, the petitioner's formation and establishment of a parent-like relationship with the child;
(6) The person established a bonded and dependent relationship with the child that is parental in nature; and
(7) Continuing the relationship between the person and the child is in the best interest of the child.
(b) In a proceeding to adjudicate parentage of a person who claims to be a de facto parent of the child, if there is more than one other person who is a parent or has a claim to parentage of the child and the court determines that the requirements of this section and section 582- 106 of this article are satisfied, the court shall award parentage to the person claiming to be a de facto parent, provided the adjudication of a person as a parent under this section shall not disestablish the parentage of any other parent, nor limit any other parent's rights pursuant to any other law of the state.
(c) An existing parent of the child may use evidence of duress, coercion or threat of harm to contest an allegation that the person seeking to be adjudicated as a parent fostered or supported a bonded and dependent relationship as described in this section. Such evidence may include:
(1) Whether within a ten-year period preceding the date of the proceeding, the person seeking to be adjudicated as a de facto parent:
(i) has been convicted of domestic assault, sexual assault or sexual exploitation of the child or a parent of the child;
(ii) has been convicted of a family violence crime, as defined by title O of the penal law, and is or has been subject to an order of protection issued by a family court; or
(iii) was found by a court to have committed abuse against the child or a parent of the child;
(2) A sworn affidavit from a domestic violence counselor or sexual assault counselor, provided the person who had confidential communications with the domestic violence counselor or sexual assault counselor has waived the privilege; or
(3) Other credible evidence of abuse against the parent of the child or the child, including, but not limited to, the parent's or child's sworn affidavit or an affidavit from a social services provider, health care provider, clergy person, attorney, or other professional from whom the parent or child sought assistance regarding the abuse.
§ 582-104. Procedure for a de facto parent to file for a judgment of parentage. (a) A proceeding to establish parentage of a child pursuant to this article may be commenced by a person who:
(1) Is alive when the proceeding is commenced; and
(2) Claims to be a de facto parent of the child; or
(3) Claims to be the child of a de facto parent.
(b) A person seeking to be adjudicated as a parent of a child shall file a petition with the court before the child reaches eighteen years of age. The child is required to be alive at the time of the filing. The petition shall include a verified affidavit alleging facts to support the existence of a de facto parent relationship with the child. The petition and affidavit shall be served on the following: all parents of the child; the child; the child's legal guardian if the child is under eighteen years of age; and, any other necessary party to the proceeding.
(c) An adverse party, parent or legal guardian may file a pleading and verified affidavit in response to the petition that shall be served on all parties to the proceeding.
(d) The court shall determine on the basis of the pleadings and affidavits whether the person seeking to be adjudicated a parent has presented prima facie evidence of the criteria for parentage pursuant to subdivision (a) of section 582-103 of this part and, therefore, has standing to proceed with a parentage action. The court, in its sole discretion, may hold a hearing to determine disputed facts that are necessary and material to the issue of standing.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the domestic relations law and the family court act, in relation to establishing confirmatory adoptions and allowing courts to grant the custody and support from more than two parents
Purpose
Establishes confirmatory adoptions and allowing courts to grant the custody and support from more than two parents
Summary of specific provisions
Section one amends the Domestic Relations Law Article 7 by adding to Title 1 Section 109 a definition for the term "confirmatory adoption".
Read the full memo (2,011 words)
Section two amends the Domestic Relations Law Article 7 by adding a new title, Title 5 "Confirmatory Adoptions," that allows parents who conceived their children using ART to adopt them using a streamlined process, and sets forth the procedure for such confirmatory adoptions.
Section three amends Article 5 of the Family Court Act by adding a new Article 5-D (title).
Part one provides relevant definitions relating to parentage, including adding a presumption of parentage for individuals who reside in the same household as a child and hold them out as their own.
Part two sets forth the requirements to qualify as a de facto parent of a child and the procedure for obtaining a judgment of parentage.
Part three sets forth provisions for court adjudication of competing claims of parentage and authorizes courts to find a child to have more than two parents in certain circumstances.
Section four amends the Domestic Relations Law Article 5 Section 70(a) to allow any parent to seek custody of their child and make clear that a court may grant custody to more than two parents.
Section five amends The Family Court Act Article 4 to reflect that a child may have a legal relationship with more than two parents.
Justification
This bill makes adoption and parentage more accessible to LGBTQ fami- lies, especially those who conceive through assisted reproduction, and affords them the same rights and protections other parents enjoy. New York enacted the Child Parent Security Act (CPSA) in 2020 to make the state's family law to protect families that use assisted reproduction, including LGBTQ families. The law made many positive changes, including allowing same sex parents using assisted reproduction to sign a Volun- tary Acknowledgement of Parentage (VAP), clarifying the parentage of children conceived using assisted reproductive technology, and legaliz- ing compensated surrogacy. It was an incredible step forward, but there is still more to be done in New York to give LGBTQ and other nontradi- tional families the protections they need and deserve under the law. The first and second sections of this proposed legislation establish a streamlined confirmatory adoption process for parents who are already recognized as parents under New York law. Currently, when a child conceived through assisted reproduction is born to LGBTQ parents, both members of the couple are legal parents under the Child Parent Security Act. But many such families still need to complete an adoption to be sure their parental rights will be respected. A family who plans to travel abroad or pass foreign citizenship onto their child may need to adopt because many countries do not recognize judgments of parentage and discriminate against LGBTQ families. Completing such an adoption currently requires an expensive and intrusive process including a back- ground check and home inspection even though the parents are adopting their own child. This bill creates a streamlined confirmatory adoption process that will protect LGBTQ families facing a denial of their parental rights in other countries.
Nineteen states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey, have already created a streamlined confirmatory adoption process to allow people who are already legal parents to obtain a judgment of adoption efficiently and affordably. Current New York law fails same-sex couples seeking to confirm their parentage through adoption because it forces them to go through the standard adoption process that requires a home investigation and criminal background check. The home inspection, background check, and hearing process is extremely expensive, intrusive, and time consuming, making it inaccessible to many parents. This bill establishes a consistent streamlined confirmatory adoption process where people who already have legal parentage over their children can confirm that relationship through adoption without a home inspection, criminal background check, or a court hearing, which will make the process affordable and more accessible to LGBTQ families.
The third section of this bill will recognize functional parents who have cared for and raised a child, either from birth or for a signif- icant portion of the child's life, but have not been legally recognized as parents. § 582-101, the "holding out" provision recognizes a parent who has lived with a child since their birth or adoption, functioned as the child's parent and presented themselves to the world as the child's parent. The bill also creates a court adjudication process to recognize de facto parents, who are people that are not biological or legal parents of the child but function as parents of a child, raising and loving the child as their own, as legal parents of the child. It will create a clear, accessible path to legal parentage for LGBTQ parents who have been functioning as parents of their child without legal rights or protection. This parentage process will be a vital step forward in protecting the parent-child relationship for LGBTQ family situations that aren't covered under the existing parentage provisions.
The bill also makes clear that people who have been adjudicated to be a parent under de facto parentage and holding out will have the same rights and responsibilities as any other parent, including an obligation to financially support the child. Moreover, the proposed legislation protects survivors of domestic abuse because it specifically precludes abusers from seeking custody of a victim's child by claiming the victim fostered a parent-child relationship between the abuser and their child. At present, existing New York parentage law does not protect a victim who was intimidated into allowing an abuser to form a relationship with their child. Under this bill, if someone who is seeking de facto parent-
age is has engaged in intimate partner violence, the victim can submit evidence of that abuse to defeat the abuser's parentage claim.
In today's society, it is becoming more and more common for a child to have more than two parents. The second and third sections of this bill include provisions allowing courts to recognize more than two parents of a child when it is in the child's best interests. Multi-parent planned families come in many forms, such as same-sex couples who conceive a child with a third person who, unlike a donor or surrogate, is a full co-parent of the child. Furthermore, polyamorous families, where more than two people have a romantic relationship, with the consent of all the people involved, can result in a multi-parent family if they create or raise a child together.
Within the past few years, states have begun to recognize the existence of multi-parent families. Six states, including California, Vermont, and Connecticut, have enacted statutes that recognize a child can have more than two legal parents. The 2017 Uniform Parentage Act, adopted by the Uniform Law Commission to assist the states in updating their laws to reflect best practices also allows legal recognition of families with more than two parents. U.P.A § 613 (amended 2017). Some New York courts have also acted to protect children with more than two parents. In 2017, a New York court upheld a child's relationship with his three parents in Dawn M. v. Michael M. because failing to recognize the child's third parent would deprive him of a continued relationship with the person he understood to be his mother and undermine his best interests. Dawn M. v. Michael M. 55 Misc. 3d 865 (Sup Ct, NY County 2017). When a child has an established relationship with three loving parents, the law should recognize those relationships and protect the child and their parents. This legislation will allow give courts explicit authority to recognize a child to have more than two parents when not doing so would be detri- mental to the child. The bill also al lows existing parents to consent to another parent adopting their child in a confirmatory adoption case, thereby permitting a child to have more than two adoptive parents when all parents consent.
Relatedly, the fourth and fifth sections of the bill amend current New York custody and child support laws to accommodate multi-parent fami- lies. The fourth section of the bill changes Article 5, Section 4 of the New York Domestic Relations Law § 70 so that "any" parent of a child may file a court action for custody. New York courts have interpreted the current language of the statute, which reads "either parent" as barring more than two parents from having standing to seek custody of a child See Matter of David S. v. Samantha G. 59 Misc. ,3d 960 (Fam Ct 2018) (holding that "there is not currently any New York statute which grants legal parentage to three parties, nor is there any New York case law precedent for such a determination"); Matter of Shanna 0. v James P. 176 A.D.3d 1334 (3rd Dept 2019) (holding that, barring extraordinary circum- stances, de facto parents do not have standing to seek custody); (Matter of Tomeka N.H. v. Jesus R.), 183 A.D.3d 106 (4th Dept 2020) (holding that the use of the word "either" in the statute indicates that a child can only have two legal parents and a third party petitioner may only establish standing when there is a pre-conception agreement with the biological parent to raise the child as co-parents. This meant that a person who functioned as a child's parent could not seek custody of the child if the child already had two legal parents, no matter how long they cared for the child or how important the functional parent was to the child. This proposed legislation will give courts the ability to recognize all parents of a child and review their custody claims, award- ing custody to more than two parents where it is in the child's best interests to do so. This will protect children in non-traditional fami- lies, ensuring they cannot be torn apart from functional parents who love and care for them.
The fifth section of the bill will similarly amend the Family Court Act Article 4 Section 5 language concerning child support, changing current language that uses "either" or "both" parents to "any" and "all" parents to ensure that every person considered to be a legal parent of a child will have an obligation to financially support that child. This ensures that a child with more than two parents can receive all the support they are entitled to.
LGBTQ+ families have historically been denied basic and vital legal protections in the United States and in New York. The gaps in current New York family law when it comes to the recognition of non-biological parent-child relationships puts LGBTQ+ families and children in a vulnerable position. For New York to truly be able to claim it is a safe and progressive state for the LGBTQ+ community, the legislature needs to expand the current parentage and adoption framework to be inclusive of all types of families. This memo advocates legislative action as the preferred route for further family law reform, particularly for adoption and de facto parentage. Such legislation ultimately results in a predictable, more enduring framework allowing same-sex couples and nontraditional families to secure their legal parentage, and more impor- tantly, providing children the legal protection of all parents.
Legislative history
S.1787 of 2023-2024 CHoylman-Sigal): Died in Children and Families
A.10259 of 2023-2024 (Gonzelez-Rojas): Died in Judiciary
S.9280 of 2021-2022 (Hoylman): Died in Children and Families
A.10523 of 2021-2022 (Gonzelez-Rojas): Died in Judiciary
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.