§ 1055-A — Substantial failure of a material condition of surrender; enforcement of a contact agreement

§ 1055-a. Substantial failure of a material condition of surrender;\nenforcement of a contact agreement. (a) In case of a substantial\nfailure of a material condition in a surrender executed pursuant to\nsection three hundred eighty-three-c of the social services law prior to\nfinalization of the adoption of the child, the court shall possess\ncontinuing jurisdiction in accordance with subdivision six of such\nsection to rehear the matter upon the filing of a petition by the\nauthorized agency, the parent or the attorney for the child or whenever\nthe court deems necessary. In such case, the authorized agency shall\nnotify the parent, unless such notice is expressly waived by a statement\nwritten by the parent and appended to or included in such instrument,\nthe attorney for the child and the court that approved the surrender\nwithin twenty days of any substantial failure to comply with a material\ncondition of the surrender prior to the finalization of the adoption of\nthe child. In such case, the authorized agency shall file a petition on\nnotice to the parent unless notice is expressly waived by a statement\nwritten by the parent and appended to or included in such instrument and\nthe attorney for the child in accordance with this section within thirty\ndays of such failure, except for good cause shown, in order for the\ncourt to review such failure and, where necessary, to hold a hearing;\nprovided, however, that in the absence of such filing, the parent and/or\nattorney for the child may file such a petition at any time up to sixty\ndays after notification of the failure. Such petition filed by a parent\nor child's attorney must be filed prior to the adoption of the child.\n (b) If an agreement for continuing contact and communication pursuant\nto paragraph (b) of subdivision two of section three hundred\neighty-three-c of the social services law is approved by the court, and\nthe child who is the subject of the approved agreement has not yet been\nadopted, any party to the approved agreement may file a petition with\nthe family court in the county where the agreement was approved to\nenforce such agreement. A copy of the approved agreement shall be\nannexed to such petition. The court shall enter an order enforcing\ncommunication or contact pursuant to the terms and conditions of the\nagreement unless the court finds that enforcement would not be in the\nbest interests of the child.\n (c) Nothing in this section shall limit the rights and remedies\navailable to the parties and the attorney for the child pursuant to\nsection one hundred twelve-b of the domestic relations law with respect\nto a failure to comply with a material condition of a surrender\nsubsequent to the finalization of the adoption of the child.\n