STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9424 IN SENATE May 15, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- (at request of the Office of Court Administration) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary 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
S. 9424 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.