§ 112 — General provisions relating to adoption from authorized agencies

New York § 112

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law DOM: Domestic Relations
• Title 2: Adoption From an Authorized Agency
• Art. 7: Adoption

Text

§ 112. General provisions relating to adoption from authorized\nagencies. In an adoption from an authorized agency the following\nrequirements shall be observed:\n 1. The adoptive parents or parent and the adoptive child must appear\nfor examination before a judge or surrogate of the county specified in\nsection one hundred thirteen of this title. The judge or surrogate,\nhowever, may in his discretion dispense with the personal appearance of\nthe adoptive child or of an adoptive parent who is on active duty in the\narmed forces of the United States.\n 2. The adoptive parents or parent and the adoptive child if over\neighteen years of age must present to such judge or surrogate (a) a\npetition stating the names and place of residence of the petitioners;\nwhether they are of full age; whether they are married or unmarried and,\nif married, whether they are living together as husband and wife; the\nfirst name, date and place of birth of the adoptive child as nearly as\nthe same can be ascertained; a statement on information and belief that\nthere will be annexed to the petition a schedule verified by a duly\nconstituted official of the authorized agency as required by this\nsection; the religious faith of the petitioners; the religious faith of\nthe adoptive child and his or her parents as nearly as the same can be\nascertained; the manner in which the adoptive parents obtained the\nadoptive child; whether the child was placed or brought into the state\nof New York from out of state for the purpose of adoption, whether the\nplacement was subject to the provisions of section three hundred\nseventy-four-a of the social services law and if the placement was\nsubject to the provisions of such section, whether the provisions of\nsuch section were complied with; the period of time during which the\nadoptive child has resided with the adoptive parents; the occupation and\napproximate income of the petitioners, including support and\nmaintenance, if any, to be received on behalf of the adoptive child from\na commissioner of social services, pursuant to the social services law,\nand the new name, if any, by which the adoptive child is to be known;\nwhether the adoptive parent or parents has or have knowledge that an\nadoptive parent is the subject of an indicated report, as such terms are\ndefined in section four hundred twelve of the social services law, filed\nwith the statewide central register of child abuse and maltreatment\npursuant to title six of article six of the social services law, or has\nbeen the subject of or the respondent in a child protective proceeding\ncommenced under article ten of the family court act, which proceeding\nresulted in an order finding that the child is an abused or neglected\nchild; that no previous application has been made to any court or judge\nfor the relief sought or if so made, the disposition of it and a\nstatement as to whether the adoptive child had been previously adopted,\nall of which statements shall be taken prima facie as true; (b) an\nagreement on the part of the adoptive parents or parent to adopt and\ntreat the adoptive child as their or his or her own lawful child; (c)\nthe consents required by section one hundred eleven of this article.\n 2-a. In the petition provided for in subdivision two of this section,\nthe adoptive parents or parent and the adoptive child if over eighteen\nyears of age shall present to the judge or surrogate as nearly as can be\nascertained the heritage of the parents, which shall include\nnationality, ethnic background and race; education, which shall be the\nnumber of years of school completed by the parents at the time of the\nbirth of the adoptive child; general physical appearance of the parents\nat the time of the birth of the adoptive child, which shall include\nheight, weight, color of hair, eyes, skin; occupation of the parents at\nthe time of the birth of the adoptive child; health and medical history\nof the parents at the time of the birth of the adoptive child, including\nall available information setting forth conditions or diseases believed\nto be hereditary, any drugs or medication taken during the pregnancy by\nthe child's mother; and any other information which may be a factor\ninfluencing the child's present or future health, talents, hobbies and\nspecial interests of parents. The petition shall also include the names\nand current addresses of the biological parents, if known.\n 3. The authorized agency must present to such judge or surrogate a\nschedule to be annexed to the petition which shall be verified by a duly\nconstituted official of the authorized agency having custody of the\nadoptive child or actually placing the child for adoption and shall\ncontain (1) the full name of the child, (2) the manner in which the\nauthorized agency obtained custody of the adoptive child, (3) the facts,\nif any, which render unnecessary the consent of either or both of the\nparents of the adoptive child, (4) a statement whether either parent had\never requested the agency to return the child to the parent, within\nthirty days of the execution and delivery of an instrument of surrender\nto an authorized agency and, if so, all facts relating thereto. If a\nrequest for return of the child to a parent be made after the\npresentation to the court of the petition and schedule, the authorized\nagency shall promptly report to the court in writing the facts relating\nthereto and (5) all available information comprising the child's medical\nhistory. If the child was placed into the state of New York for the\npurpose of adoption and such placement was subject to the provisions of\nsection three hundred seventy-four-a of the social services law, the\nauthorized agency shall attach to the petition a copy of the document,\nsigned by New York's administrator of the interstate compact for the\nplacement of children or his designee, which informs the agency or\nperson who placed the child into the state that such placement complied\nwith the provisions of the compact.\n 4. None of the papers in the proceeding shall state the surname of the\nchild in the title and no petition, agreement, consent, affidavit, nor\nany other document which is required to be signed by the adoptive\nparents shall contain the surname of the adoptive child.\n 5. The petition must be verified, the agreement and consents executed\nand acknowledged and the proof given by the respective persons before\nsuch judge or surrogate; but where the verification, agreement or\nnecessary consent is duly acknowledged or proved and certified in form\nsufficient to entitle a conveyance to be recorded in this state, (except\nthat when executed and acknowledged within the state of New York, no\ncertificate of the county clerk shall be required), such judge or\nsurrogate may grant the order of adoption without the personal\nappearance of such persons or parties or any of them for good cause\nshown, which reason shall be recited in the order of adoption.\n 6. Where the adoptive child is less than eighteen years of age, no\norder of adoption shall be made until such child has resided with the\nadoptive parents for at least three months unless the judge or surrogate\nin his discretion shall dispense with such period of residence and shall\nrecite in the order the reason for such action. When the adoptive\nparents are the foster parents in whose home the adoptive child has been\nplaced out or boarded out for a period in excess of three months, such\nperiod shall be deemed to constitute the required period of residence.\n 7. Before making an order of adoption the judge or surrogate shall\ninquire of the department of social services and the department shall\ninform the court whether an adoptive parent is the subject of an\nindicated report, as such terms are defined in section four hundred\ntwelve of the social services law, filed with the statewide central\nregister of child abuse and maltreatment pursuant to title six of\narticle six of the social services law and shall cause to be made an\ninvestigation by a disinterested person or by an authorized agency\nspecifically designated by the judge or surrogate to examine into the\nallegations set forth in the petition and to ascertain such other facts\nrelating to the adoptive child and adoptive parents as will give such\njudge or surrogate adequate basis for determining the propriety of\napproving the adoption. A written report of such investigation shall be\nsubmitted before the order of adoption is made. As used in this\nsubdivision, "disinterested person" includes the probation service of\nthe family court. Such an inquiry shall not be required if the findings\nof such an inquiry made within the past twelve months is available to\nthe judge or surrogate.\n 7-a. Any order subject to the provisions of this section shall include\nan adoption information registry birth parent registration consent form,\nstating whether or not such biological parent or parents whose consent\nis subject to the provisions of this section, consents to the receipt of\nidentifying information by the child to be adopted upon registration\nwith the adoption information registry established by section forty-one\nhundred thirty-eight-c of the public health law and upon the adoptee\nreaching the age of eighteen. If such consent is made, it shall be\nrevocable by either of the biological parents at any time. The\nrevocation of the consent by one of the parents shall revoke the consent\nof both parents. The failure of a biological parent to complete the\nconsent form shall have no effect on the finality of the consent to\nadoption. A copy of the form required by this subdivision, shall be\nforwarded to the state adoption information registry for inclusion in\nthe records maintained by such registry. Any fees authorized to be\ncharged by the state adoption registry for filing documentation with\nsuch registry shall be waived for the form required by this subdivision.\n 8. Rules of court shall permit the filing of a petition for adoption\nof a child whose custody and guardianship has not yet been committed to\nan authorized agency where a proceeding to terminate parental rights is\npending. Such adoption petition shall be filed in the court where the\ntermination of parental rights proceeding is pending. The clerk of such\ncourt shall accept the adoption petition for filing and processing and\nshall request such inquiries of the department of social services as are\nrequired by subdivision seven of this section, provided, however, that\nthe petition, supporting documents and the fact of their filing shall\nnot be provided to the judge before whom the petition for termination of\nparental rights is pending until such time as fact-finding is concluded\nunder such petition.\n