Bill Text: NY A10198 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Authorizes an application to be made in family court for the name change of a child under eighteen as part of a pending, related proceeding; makes related provisions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-20 - REFERRED TO JUDICIARY [A10198 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A10198-Introduced.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10198

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 10, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Hevesi) --
          (at request of the Office of Court Administration) --  read  once  and
          referred to the Committee on Children and Families

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  family  court  act and the civil rights law, in
          relation to name changes of children

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. Subdivision (c) of section 115 of the family court act, as
     2  amended by chapter 605 of the laws  of  2011,  is  amended  to  read  as
     3  follows:
     4    (c)  The  family  court  has such other jurisdiction as is provided by
     5  law, including but not limited to: proceedings concerning  adoption  and
     6  custody  of children, as set forth in parts two and three of article six
     7  of this  act;  proceedings  concerning  the  uniform  interstate  family
     8  support  act,  as  set  forth in article five-B of this act; proceedings
     9  concerning children in foster care and care and custody of children,  as
    10  set  forth  in  sections  three  hundred fifty-eight-a and three hundred
    11  eighty-four-a of the social services law and article ten-A of this  act;
    12  proceedings  concerning  former  foster children as set forth in article
    13  ten-B of this act; proceedings concerning  destitute  children,  as  set
    14  forth  in article ten-C of this act; proceedings concerning guardianship
    15  and custody of children by reason of the death  of,  or  abandonment  or
    16  surrender  by,  the  parent  or  parents, as set forth in sections three
    17  hundred eighty-three-c, three hundred eighty-four and paragraphs (a) and
    18  (b) of subdivision four of section three hundred  eighty-four-b  of  the
    19  social  services  law;  proceedings  concerning standby guardianship and
    20  guardianship of the person as set forth in part four of article  six  of
    21  this  act  and article seventeen of the surrogate's court procedure act;
    22  [and] proceedings concerning the interstate compact on juveniles as  set
    23  forth  in chapter one hundred fifty-five of the laws of nineteen hundred
    24  fifty-five, as amended[,]; proceedings concerning the interstate compact
    25  on the placement of children, as set  forth  in  section  three  hundred
    26  seventy-four-a of the social services law[, and]; proceedings concerning
    27  the uniform child custody jurisdiction and enforcement act, as set forth

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14246-01-4
        A. 10198                            2

     1  in  article  five-A  of  the  domestic  relations  law;  and proceedings
     2  concerning the change of the name of a child as  set  forth  in  section
     3  sixty of the civil rights law.
     4    §  2.  Subdivision  (b)  of  section  439  of the family court act, as
     5  amended by chapter 576 of the laws  of  2005,  is  amended  to  read  as
     6  follows:
     7    (b)  In  any  proceeding  to  establish  paternity which is heard by a
     8  support magistrate, the support magistrate shall advise the  mother  and
     9  putative  father  of  the  right  to be represented by counsel and shall
    10  advise the mother and putative father of their right to  blood  grouping
    11  or  other  genetic  marker  or DNA tests in accordance with section five
    12  hundred thirty-two of this act. The support magistrate shall order  that
    13  such  tests be conducted in accordance with section five hundred thirty-
    14  two of this act. The support magistrate shall be empowered to  hear  and
    15  determine  all matters related to the proceeding including the making of
    16  an order of filiation pursuant to section five hundred forty-two of this
    17  act and an application to change the  name  of  the  child  pursuant  to
    18  section sixty of the civil rights law, provided, however, that where the
    19  respondent denies paternity and paternity is contested on the grounds of
    20  equitable  estoppel,  the  support  magistrate shall not be empowered to
    21  determine the issue of paternity, but shall transfer the proceeding to a
    22  judge of the court for a determination of the issue of paternity.  Where
    23  an order of filiation is issued by a judge in a paternity proceeding and
    24  child  support is in issue, the judge, or support magistrate upon refer-
    25  ral from the judge, shall be authorized to immediately make a  temporary
    26  or final order of support, as applicable. Whenever an order of filiation
    27  is  made by a support magistrate, the support magistrate also shall make
    28  a final or temporary order of support.
    29    § 3. Section 60 of the civil rights law, as amended by chapter 695  of
    30  the laws of 1962, is amended to read as follows:
    31    §  60.  Petition for change of name. 1. A petition for leave to assume
    32  another name may be made by a resident of the state to the county  court
    33  of the county or the supreme court in the county in which [he] the peti-
    34  tioner  resides,  or,  if [he] the petitioner resides in the city of New
    35  York, either to the supreme court or to any branch of the civil court of
    36  the city of New York, in any county of the city of New York.  The  peti-
    37  tion  to  change the name of an infant may be made by the infant through
    38  [his] the infant's next friend, or  by  either  of  [his]  the  infant's
    39  parents,  or  by [his] the infant's general guardian, or by the guardian
    40  of [his] the infant's person, or by the infant's attorney.
    41    2. An application may be made in family court seeking a name-change of
    42  a child under the age of eighteen as part of a pending, related proceed-
    43  ing.  Such application may be made by any of the parties to the proceed-
    44  ing or by the attorney for the child.  An application for a name  change
    45  made in family court shall only be granted where it is on consent of all
    46  parties.
    47    §  4. Subdivision 4 of section 62 of the civil rights law, as added by
    48  chapter 158 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
    49    4. [The] Except for applications in family court pursuant  to  section
    50  sixty  of  this  article, the court shall not request or require consent
    51  from any party other than the petitioner, or in the case of a petitioner
    52  who does not have capacity to consent, their legal representative, as  a
    53  condition  of  granting the name change or obtaining certified copies of
    54  the name change order.
    55    § 5. This act shall take effect on the first of April next  succeeding
    56  the date on which it shall have become a law.