§ 116 — Orders of investigation and order of adoption

New York § 116

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law DOM: Domestic Relations
• Title 3: Private-placement Adoption
• Art. 7: Adoption

Text

§ 116. Orders of investigation and order of adoption. 1. When the\nadoptive child is less than eighteen years of age, no order of adoption\nshall be made until three months after the court shall have received the\npetition to adopt, except where the spouse of the adoptive parent is the\nbirth parent of the child and the child has resided with the birth\nparent and adoptive parent for more than three months, such waiting\nperiod shall not be required. The judge or surrogate may shorten such\nwaiting period for good cause shown, and, in such case the order of\nadoption shall recite the reason for such action. The three months\nresidence period specified in section one hundred twelve of title two of\nthis article and the three months waiting period provided in this\nsubdivision may run concurrently in whole or in part.\n 2. Stage one of private-placement adoption. At the time of receiving\nthe petition, agreement and consents, the judge or surrogate, upon\nfinding that the applicable provisions of this title have been complied\nwith and that it appears that the adoption may be in the best interests\nof the child, shall issue an order of investigation hereunder. The order\nof investigation shall require that the report of such investigation be\nmade in accordance with subdivision three of this section, and may\nrequire or authorize further investigations from time to time until the\ngranting of the order of adoption. Such order shall direct that such\ninvestigation shall not unnecessarily duplicate any previous\ninvestigations which have been made of the petitioner or petitioners\npursuant to section one hundred fifteen-d of this title. Should such\ninvestigation give apparent cause, the judge or surrogate shall require\nthe petitioner or petitioners to show cause why the child should not be\nremoved from the home, upon due notice to all persons whose consent is\nrequired for the adoption, and in any case where the consent of the\nbirth mother would not otherwise be required, the judge or surrogate may\nin his discretion require that she be given due notice. On the return\ndate the judge or surrogate shall take proof of the facts shown by any\nsuch investigation. If the court is satisfied that the welfare of the\nchild requires that it be removed from the home, the judge or surrogate\nshall by order remove the child from the home of the petitioner or\npetitioners and return the child to a birth parent or place the child\nwith an appropriate authorized agency, or, in the case of a surrogate,\ntransfer the child to the family court. The judge or surrogate may also\nrequire that notice be given to an appropriate authorized agency.\n 3. The judge or surrogate shall cause to be made an investigation by a\ndisinterested person who in the opinion of the judge or surrogate is\nqualified by training and experience, or by an authorized agency\nspecifically designated by him to examine into the allegations set forth\nin the petition. A post-placement investigation conducted pursuant to\nthe provisions of this section shall be made by a disinterested person\nwho in the opinion of the judge or surrogate is qualified by training\nand experience to perform post-placement investigations. Such\ndisinterested person shall certify to the court that he or she is a\ndisinterested person and has no interest in the outcome of petitioner's\nor petitioners' application. Such disinterested person shall further\ndisclose to the court any fee paid or to be paid to such person for\nservices rendered in connection with the post-placement investigation.\nThe investigator shall make a written report of his investigation into\nthe truth and accuracy of the allegations of the petition, and, where\napplicable, into the statements contained in the affidavit required by\nsection one hundred fifteen of this title, and he shall ascertain as\nfully as possible, and incorporate in his report the various factors\nwhich may bear upon the determination of the application for adoption\nincluding, but not limited to, the following information:\n (a) the marital and family status, and history, of the adoptive\nparents and adoptive child;\n (b) the physical and mental health of the adoptive parents and\nadoptive child;\n (c) the property owned by and the income of the adoptive parents;\n (d) the compensation paid or agreed upon with respect to the placement\nof the child for adoption;\n (e) whether either adoptive parent has ever been respondent in any\nproceeding concerning allegedly abused, neglected, abandoned or\ndelinquent children;\n (f) any other facts relating to the familial, social, religious,\nemotional and financial circumstances of the adoptive parents which may\nbe relevant to a determination of adoption.\n The written report of investigation shall be submitted to the judge or\nsurrogate within thirty days after the same is directed to be made,\nunless for good cause shown the judge or surrogate shall grant a\nreasonable extension of such period. The report shall be filed with the\njudge or surrogate, in any event, before the final order of adoption is\ngranted.\n 4. Stage two of private-placement adoption. If the judge or surrogate\nhas found that there has been compliance with all the requirements\nhereof and is satisfied that the best interests of the child will be\npromoted by granting an order of adoption, the provisions of section one\nhundred fourteen of title two of this article shall apply.\n 5. As used in this section, "disinterested person" includes the\nprobation service of the family court, a licensed master social worker,\nlicensed clinical social worker, or an authorized agency specifically\ndesignated by the court to conduct pre-placement investigations.\n