Bill Text: NY S08287 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Relates to standing to file paternity petitions, necessary parties in paternity cases and vacating acknowledgments of paternity regarding an alleged father when the mother has signed an acknowledgment of paternity with another man.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-06-20 - COMMITTED TO RULES [S08287 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S08287-Introduced.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          8287
                    IN SENATE
                                     April 26, 2018
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by Sen. BONACIC -- (at request of the Office of Court Admin-
          istration) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed  to  be
          committed to the Committee on Judiciary
        AN  ACT  to  amend the family court act, in relation to standing to file
          paternity petitions, necessary parties in paternity cases and vacating
          acknowledgments of paternity
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1. Section 522 of the family court act, as amended by chapter
     2  892 of the laws of 1986, is amended to read as follows:
     3    § 522. Persons who may originate proceedings. Proceedings to establish
     4  the paternity of the child and to compel support under this article  may
     5  be commenced by the mother, whether a minor or not, by a person alleging
     6  to be the father, whether a minor or not, by the child or child's guard-
     7  ian or other person standing in a parental relation or being the next of
     8  kin of the child, or by any authorized representative of an incorporated
     9  society  doing  charitable  or  philanthropic  work, or if the mother or
    10  child is or is likely to become a public charge on  a  county,  city  or
    11  town, by a public welfare official of the county, city or town where the
    12  mother resides or the child is found. If a proceeding is originated by a
    13  public  welfare  official  and thereafter withdrawn or dismissed without
    14  consideration on the merits, such withdrawal or dismissal shall be with-
    15  out prejudice to other persons. An alleged father may file a petition to
    16  establish  paternity  notwithstanding  an  acknowledgment  of  paternity
    17  signed by the mother and another man.
    18    § 2. Section 523 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 398 of
    19  the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
    20    § 523. Petition. Proceedings are commenced by the filing of a verified
    21  petition, alleging that the person named as respondent, or the petition-
    22  er  if  the petitioner is a person alleging to be the child's father, is
    23  or may be the father of the child and petitioning the court to  issue  a
    24  summons  or  a  warrant,  requiring the respondent to show cause why the
    25  court should not enter a declaration of paternity, an order of  support,
    26  and  such  other  and  further  relief  as  may be appropriate under the
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14584-01-8

        S. 8287                             2
     1  circumstances. The petition shall be in  writing  and  verified  by  the
     2  petitioner.  Any such petition for the establishment of paternity or the
     3  establishment,  modification and/or enforcement of a child support obli-
     4  gation for persons not in receipt of family assistance, which contains a
     5  request  for child support enforcement services completed in a manner as
     6  specified in section one hundred eleven-g of the  social  services  law,
     7  shall constitute an application for such services. In the event that the
     8  mother  signed an acknowledgement of paternity with a man other than the
     9  alleged father, the male signatory to the acknowledgment of paternity is
    10  a necessary party and must be named as a respondent.
    11    § 3. Section 524 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 59  of
    12  the  laws  of  1993 and subdivision (b) as amended by chapter 398 of the
    13  laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
    14    § 524. Issuance of summons. (a) On receiving a petition sufficient  in
    15  law  commencing  a paternity proceeding, the court shall cause a summons
    16  to be issued, requiring the respondent or respondents to show cause  why
    17  the  declaration  of paternity, order of filiation, order of support and
    18  other and further relief prayed for by the petition should not be made.
    19    (b)  The summons shall contain or have attached thereto a notice stat-
    20  ing: (i) that [the] a respondent's failure to appear shall result in the
    21  default entry of an order of filiation by the court upon  proof  of  the
    22  respondent's  actual  notice  of the commencement of the proceeding; and
    23  (ii) that a respondent's failure to appear may result in the  suspension
    24  of  his  or her driving privileges; state professional, occupational and
    25  business licenses; and sporting licenses and permits.
    26    § 4. Subdivision (a) of section  532  of  the  family  court  act,  as
    27  amended  by  chapter  214  of  the  laws  of 1998, is amended to read as
    28  follows:
    29    (a) The court shall advise the parties of their right to one  or  more
    30  genetic  marker tests or DNA tests and, on the court's own motion or the
    31  motion of any party, shall  order  the  mother,  her  child  [and],  the
    32  alleged  father,  and, if appropriate, the male signatory to an acknowl-
    33  edgement of paternity to submit to one or more  genetic  marker  or  DNA
    34  tests  of  a type generally acknowledged as reliable by an accreditation
    35  body designated by the secretary of the federal department of health and
    36  human services and performed by a laboratory approved by such an accred-
    37  itation body and by the commissioner of health or by  a  duly  qualified
    38  physician  to  aid in the determination of whether the alleged father is
    39  or is not the father of the child. No such test shall be ordered, howev-
    40  er, upon a written finding by the court that  it  is  not  in  the  best
    41  interests of the child on the basis of res judicata, equitable estoppel,
    42  or the presumption of legitimacy of a child born to a married woman. The
    43  record  or  report of the results of any such genetic marker or DNA test
    44  ordered pursuant to this section or  pursuant  to  section  one  hundred
    45  eleven-k of the social services law shall be received in evidence by the
    46  court pursuant to subdivision (e) of rule forty-five hundred eighteen of
    47  the  civil  practice  law and rules where no timely objection in writing
    48  has been made thereto and that if such timely objections are  not  made,
    49  they  shall be deemed waived and shall not be heard by the court. If the
    50  record or report of the results of any such genetic marker or  DNA  test
    51  or tests indicate at least a ninety-five percent probability of paterni-
    52  ty,  the  admission  of  such record or report shall create a rebuttable
    53  presumption of paternity, and shall establish, if unrebutted, the pater-
    54  nity of and liability for the support of a child pursuant to this  arti-
    55  cle and article four of this act.

        S. 8287                             3
     1    §  5.  Section  542 of the family court act is amended by adding a new
     2  subdivision (d) to read as follows:
     3    (d)  If the mother signed an acknowledgement of paternity with another
     4  man whom the court has determined is not the biological  father  of  the
     5  child,  the  court  shall  make an order vacating the acknowledgement of
     6  paternity at the same time that it makes the order of filiation.
     7    § 6. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
     8  have become a law.
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