New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

New Mexico Senate Bill SB474 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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28	28	SENATE BILL 474
29	29	57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 2025
30	30	INTRODUCED BY
31	31	Anthony L. Thornton
32	32	AN ACT
33	33	RELATING TO ADOPTION; AMENDING THE ADOPTION ACT TO STREAMLINE
34	34	THE ADOPTION PROCESS FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE PRENATALLY ABANDONED.
35	35	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
36	36	SECTION 1. Section 32A-5-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993,
37	37	Chapter 77, Section 130, as amended) is amended to read:
38	38	"32A-5-3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Adoption Act:
39	39	A. "accrediting entity" means an entity that has
40	40	entered into an agreement with the United States secretary of
41	41	state pursuant to the federal Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000
42	42	and regulations adopted by the United States secretary of state
43	43	pursuant to that act, to accredit agencies and approve persons
44	44	who provide adoption services related to convention adoptions;
45	45	B. "adoptee" means a person who is the subject of
46	46	an adoption petition;
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74	74	C. "adoption service" means:
75	75	(1) identifying a child for adoption and
76	76	arranging the adoption of the child;
77	77	(2) arranging or assisting in the process of
78	78	connecting or matching parents who may place a child for
79	79	adoption with prospective adoptive parents;
80	80	(3) providing counseling, advice or guidance
81	81	related to a potential adoption;
82	82	(4) receiving or disbursing funds or anything
83	83	of value on behalf of a prospective adoptive parent or to a
84	84	parent who may place or has placed a child for adoption;
85	85	(5) securing termination of parental rights to
86	86	a child or consent to adoption of the child;
87	87	(6) performing a background study on a child
88	88	and reporting on the study;
89	89	(7) performing a home study on a prospective
90	90	adoptive parent and reporting on the study;
91	91	(8) making determinations regarding the best
92	92	interests of a child and the appropriateness of an adoptive
93	93	placement for the child;
94	94	(9) performing post-placement monitoring of a
95	95	child until an adoption is final; or
96	96	(10) when there is a disruption before an
97	97	adoption of a child is final, assuming custody of the child and
98	98	providing or facilitating the provision of child care or other
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127	127	social services for the child pending an alternative placement
128	128	of the child;
129	129	D. "agency" means a person certified, licensed or
130	130	otherwise specially empowered by law to place a child in a home
131	131	in this or any other state for the purpose of adoption;
132	132	E. "agency adoption" means an adoption when the
133	133	adoptee is in the custody of an agency prior to placement;
134	134	F. "acknowledged father" means a father who:
135	135	(1) acknowledges paternity of the adoptee
136	136	pursuant to the putative father registry, as provided for in
137	137	Section 32A-5-20 NMSA 1978;
138	138	(2) is named, with his consent, as the
139	139	adoptee's father on the adoptee's birth certificate;
140	140	(3) is obligated to support the adoptee under
141	141	a written voluntary promise or pursuant to a court order; or
142	142	(4) has openly held out the adoptee as his own
143	143	child by establishing a custodial, personal or financial
144	144	relationship with the adoptee as follows:
145	145	(a) for an adoptee under six months old
146	146	at the time of placement: 1) has initiated an action to
147	147	establish paternity; 2) is living with the adoptee at the time
148	148	the adoption petition is filed; 3) has lived with the mother a
149	149	minimum of ninety days during the two-hundred-eighty-day period
150	150	prior to the birth or placement of the adoptee; 4) has lived
151	151	with the adoptee within the ninety days immediately preceding
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180	180	the adoptive placement; 5) has provided reasonable and fair
181	181	financial support to the mother during the pregnancy and in
182	182	connection with the adoptee's birth in accordance with his
183	183	means and when not prevented from doing so by the person or
184	184	authorized agency having lawful custody of the adoptee or the
185	185	adoptee's mother; 6) has continuously paid child support to the
186	186	mother since the adoptee's birth in an amount at least equal to
187	187	the amount provided in Section 40-4-11.1 NMSA 1978, or has
188	188	brought current any delinquent child support payments; or 7)
189	189	any other factor the court deems necessary to establish a
190	190	custodial, personal or financial relationship with the adoptee;
191	191	or
192	192	(b) for an adoptee over six months old
193	193	at the time of placement: 1) has initiated an action to
194	194	establish paternity; 2) has lived with the adoptee within the
195	195	ninety days immediately preceding the adoptive placement; 3)
196	196	has continuously paid child support to the mother since the
197	197	adoptee's birth in an amount at least equal to the amount
198	198	provided in Section 40-4-11.1 NMSA 1978, or is making
199	199	reasonable efforts to bring delinquent child support payments
200	200	current; 4) has contact with the adoptee on a monthly basis
201	201	when physically and financially able and when not prevented by
202	202	the person or authorized agency having lawful custody of the
203	203	adoptee; or 5) has regular communication with the adoptee, or
204	204	with the person or agency having the care or custody of the
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233	233	adoptee, when physically and financially unable to visit the
234	234	adoptee and when not prevented from doing so by the person or
235	235	authorized agency having lawful custody of the adoptee;
236	236	G. "alleged father" means an individual whom the
237	237	biological mother has identified as the biological father, but
238	238	the individual has not acknowledged paternity or registered
239	239	with the putative father registry as provided for in Section
240	240	32A-5-20 NMSA 1978;
241	241	H. "consent" means a document:
242	242	(1) signed by a biological parent whereby the
243	243	parent grants consent to the adoption of the parent's child by
244	244	another;
245	245	(2) whereby the department or an agency grants
246	246	its consent to the adoption of a child in its custody; or
247	247	(3) signed by the adoptee if the child is
248	248	fourteen years of age or older;
249	249	I. "convention adoption" means:
250	250	(1) an adoption by a United States resident of
251	251	a child who is a resident of a foreign country that is a party
252	252	to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-
253	253	operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption; or
254	254	(2) an adoption by a resident of a foreign
255	255	country that is a party to the Hague Convention on Protection
256	256	of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry
257	257	Adoption of a child who is a resident of the United States;
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286	286	J. "counselor" means a person certified by the
287	287	department to conduct adoption counseling in independent
288	288	adoptions;
289	289	K. "department adoption" means an adoption when the
290	290	child is in the custody of the department;
291	291	L. "foreign born child" means any child not born in
292	292	the United States who is not a citizen of the United States;
293	293	M. "former parent" means a parent whose parental
294	294	rights have been terminated or relinquished;
295	295	N. "full disclosure" means mandatory and continuous
296	296	disclosure by the investigator, agency, department or
297	297	petitioner throughout the adoption proceeding and after
298	298	finalization of the adoption of all known, nonidentifying
299	299	information regarding the adoptee, including:
300	300	(1) health history;
301	301	(2) psychological history;
302	302	(3) mental history;
303	303	(4) hospital history;
304	304	(5) medication history;
305	305	(6) genetic history;
306	306	(7) physical descriptions;
307	307	(8) social history;
308	308	(9) placement history; and
309	309	(10) education;
310	310	O. "independent adoption" means an adoption when
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339	339	the child is not in the custody of the department or an agency;
340	340	P. "investigator" means an individual certified by
341	341	the department to conduct pre-placement studies and post-
342	342	placement reports;
343	343	Q. "office" means a place for the regular
344	344	transaction of business or performance of particular services;
345	345	R. "parental rights" means all rights of a parent
346	346	with reference to a child, including parental right to control,
347	347	to withhold consent to an adoption or to receive notice of a
348	348	hearing on a petition for adoption;
349	349	S. "placement" means the selection of a family for
350	350	an adoptee or matching of a family with an adoptee and physical
351	351	transfer of the adoptee to the family in all adoption
352	352	proceedings, except in adoptions filed pursuant to Paragraphs
353	353	(1) and (2) of Subsection C of Section 32A-5-12 NMSA 1978, in
354	354	which case placement occurs when the parents consent to the
355	355	adoption, parental rights are terminated or parental consent is
356	356	implied;
357	357	T. "post-placement report" means a written
358	358	evaluation of the adoptive family and the adoptee after the
359	359	adoptee is placed for adoption;
360	360	U. "prenatal abandonment" means the failure of an
361	361	acknowledged or alleged father to provide reasonable, safe and
362	362	consistent support to the mother and child during pregnancy.
363	363	Prenatal abandonment occurs when:
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392	392	(1) an acknowledged or alleged father, for a
393	393	period of at least sixty days, fails to:
394	394	(a) initiate or maintain any significant
395	395	contact with the pregnant mother, despite knowing or having
396	396	reason to know the mother is pregnant with the acknowledged or
397	397	alleged father's child; or
398	398	(b) provide or offer reasonable
399	399	financial or emotional support, within the acknowledged or
400	400	alleged father's own means, including contributions to prenatal
401	401	medical or living expenses; or
402	402	(2) an acknowledged or alleged father is
403	403	convicted for domestic violence against the mother that
404	404	occurred while the mother was pregnant with the child;
405	405	[U.] V. "pre-placement study" means a written
406	406	evaluation of the adoptive family, the adoptee's biological
407	407	family and the adoptee;
408	408	[V.] W. "presumed father" means:
409	409	(1) the husband of the biological mother at
410	410	the time the adoptee was born;
411	411	(2) an individual who was married to the
412	412	mother and either the adoptee was born during the term of the
413	413	marriage or the adoptee was born within three hundred days
414	414	after the marriage was terminated by death, annulment,
415	415	declaration of invalidity or divorce; or
416	416	(3) before the adoptee's birth, an individual
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445	445	who attempted to marry the adoptee's biological mother by a
446	446	marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with law, although
447	447	the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid and if
448	448	the attempted marriage:
449	449	(a) could be declared invalid only by a
450	450	court, the adoptee was born during the attempted marriage or
451	451	within three hundred days after its termination by death,
452	452	annulment, declaration of invalidity or divorce; or
453	453	(b) is invalid without a court order,
454	454	the adoptee was born within three hundred days after the
455	455	termination of cohabitation;
456	456	[W.] X. "record" means any petition, affidavit,
457	457	consent or relinquishment form, transcript or notes of
458	458	testimony, deposition, power of attorney, report, decree,
459	459	order, judgment, correspondence, document, photograph, invoice,
460	460	receipt, certificate or other printed, written, videotaped or
461	461	tape-recorded material pertaining to an adoption proceeding;
462	462	[X.] Y. "relinquishment" means the document by
463	463	which a parent relinquishes parental rights to the department
464	464	or an agency to enable placement of the parent's child for
465	465	adoption;
466	466	[Y.] Z. "resident" means a person who, prior to
467	467	filing an adoption petition, has lived in the state for at
468	468	least six months immediately preceding filing of the petition
469	469	for adoption or a person who has become domiciled in the state
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498	498	by establishing legal residence with the intention of
499	499	maintaining the residency indefinitely; and
500	500	[Z.] AA. "stepparent adoption" means an adoption of
501	501	the adoptee by the adoptee's stepparent when the adoptee has
502	502	lived with the stepparent for at least one year following the
503	503	marriage of the stepparent to the custodial parent."
504	504	SECTION 2. Section 32A-5-15 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993,
505	505	Chapter 77, Section 142, as amended) is amended to read:
506	506	"32A-5-15. TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS.--
507	507	A. The physical, mental and emotional welfare and
508	508	needs of the child shall be the primary consideration for the
509	509	termination of parental rights. The court may terminate the
510	510	rights of the child's parents as provided by the Adoption Act.
511	511	B. The court shall terminate parental rights with
512	512	respect to a child when:
513	513	(1) the child has been abandoned by the
514	514	parents. Prenatal abandonment by an acknowledged or alleged
515	515	father subsequently identified as the biological father through
516	516	legally admissible genetic testing shall be considered a form
517	517	of abandonment;
518	518	(2) the child has been a neglected or abused
519	519	child and the court finds that the conditions and causes of the
520	520	neglect and abuse are unlikely to change in the foreseeable
521	521	future; or
522	522	(3) the child has been placed in the care of
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551	551	others, including care by other relatives, either by a court
552	552	order or otherwise, and the following conditions exist:
553	553	(a) the child has lived in the home of
554	554	others for an extended period of time;
555	555	(b) the parent-child relationship has
556	556	disintegrated;
557	557	(c) a psychological parent-child
558	558	relationship has developed between the substitute family and
559	559	the child;
560	560	(d) if the court deems the child of
561	561	sufficient capacity to express a preference, the child no
562	562	longer prefers to live with the natural parent;
563	563	(e) the substitute family desires to
564	564	adopt the child; and
565	565	(f) a presumption of abandonment created
566	566	by the conditions described in Subparagraphs (a) through (e) of
567	567	this paragraph has not been rebutted.
568	568	C. A finding by the court that all of the
569	569	conditions set forth in Subparagraphs (a) through (e) of
570	570	Paragraph (3) of Subsection B of this section exist shall
571	571	create a rebuttable presumption of abandonment."
572	572	SECTION 3. Section 32A-5-19 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993,
573	573	Chapter 77, Section 146, as amended) is amended to read:
574	574	"32A-5-19. PERSONS WHOSE CONSENTS OR RELINQUISHMENTS ARE
575	575	NOT REQUIRED.--The consent to adoption or relinquishment of
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604	604	parental rights required pursuant to the provisions of the
605	605	Adoption Act shall not be required from:
606	606	A. a parent whose rights with reference to the
607	607	adoptee have been terminated pursuant to law;
608	608	B. a parent who has relinquished the child to an
609	609	agency for an adoption;
610	610	C. a biological father of an adoptee conceived as a
611	611	result of rape or incest;
612	612	D. a person who has failed to respond when given
613	613	notice pursuant to the provisions of Section 32A-5-27 NMSA
614	614	1978; [or]
615	615	E. an alleged father who has failed to register
616	616	with the putative father registry within ten days of the
617	617	child's birth and is not otherwise the acknowledged father; or
618	618	F. an acknowledged or alleged father who prenatally
619	619	abandoned the child."
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