STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 245 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. PERSAUD, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, KRUEGER -- 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 authorizing expe- dited settlement conference processes for establishing child support orders The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivisions (c) and (d) of section 439-a of the family 2 court act are relettered (d) and (e) and a new subdivision (c) is added 3 to read as follows: 4 (c) (i) Purpose. To authorize the development of expedited settlement 5 conference processes in each family court to facilitate the establish- 6 ment of child support orders pursuant to section four hundred thirteen 7 of this article consistent with the state's child support guidelines for 8 parents who agree on child support and seek to voluntarily engage in a 9 settlement conference, expedited settlement conferences shall be author- 10 ized and developed pursuant to this section. Such expedited settlement 11 conferences are not for the purpose of parents' negotiation or mediation 12 of disputes concerning income or issues related to the determination of 13 child support. Further, such expedited settlement conferences are not 14 for use in actions brought by public welfare officials for support 15 pursuant to subdivision one of section one hundred two of the social 16 services law. The court administration shall promulgate or amend forms 17 as necessary to implement the terms of this section. 18 (ii) Initiating the expedited settlement conference. (A) An expedited 19 settlement conference may be initiated: 20 (1) by a petitioner selecting the option for a conference on the peti- 21 tion, with no objection by the respondent. 22 (2) by referral from a family court. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00853-01-5
S. 245 2 1 (B) Parties seeking to engage in an expedited settlement conference 2 shall apply for child support services pursuant to title IV-d of the 3 federal social security act, either by indication on the petition for 4 support or on the stipulation for child support. 5 (C) The following cases shall be excluded from an expedited settlement 6 conference process: 7 (1) Cases that involve minor parents who are unrepresented by legal 8 counsel. 9 (2) Cases that require a determination of parentage. 10 (3) Cases between parties who are also parties to a temporary or final 11 order of protection issued by any court of competent jurisdiction. 12 (4) Cases that involve spousal support in addition to child support. 13 (iii) Exchange of financial affidavits and supporting documentation. 14 The parties shall exchange financial affidavits and supporting documen- 15 tation in accordance with section four hundred twenty-four-a of this 16 article, unless the parties expressly waive all or further financial 17 disclosure. 18 (iv) Conduct of the conference. (A) At the outset of the expedited 19 settlement conference, the parties shall be informed as to how the 20 conference will proceed. Such notice shall include, but not be limited 21 to: 22 (1) that the parties have a right to consult with or retain an attor- 23 ney prior to reaching agreement; 24 (2) that participation in the conference is voluntary and that, at any 25 time during the conference, either party can indicate that they choose 26 to discontinue the conference for any reason; 27 (3) that section four hundred twenty-four-a of this article requires 28 parties to a support case to engage in financial disclosure and that 29 there shall be no further financial disclosure or discovery if the 30 parties achieve a validly executed child support agreement through the 31 expedited settlement conference process; and 32 (4) that child support orders, including court-ordered agreements, can 33 be modified on the bases enumerated in section four hundred fifty-one of 34 this article and as listed on the stipulation for child support form, 35 and that a validly executed agreement between the parties opting out of 36 the bases for modification under subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph 37 (b) of subdivision three of section four hundred fifty-one of this arti- 38 cle means those bases will not be available to a party seeking modifica- 39 tion of the court-ordered agreement in the future. 40 (B) For the purposes of this section, the family court staff facili- 41 tating the conference shall review the financial affidavit submitted by 42 each party and any other documentation or information provided by the 43 parties and shall complete a child support guidelines worksheet to 44 calculate the support obligation. 45 (C) The family court staff facilitating the conference shall review 46 the child support guidelines worksheet with the parties and the support 47 obligation resulting from the calculations and confirm that the parties 48 received and had the opportunity to review a copy of the child support 49 standards chart promulgated by the commissioner of the office of tempo- 50 rary and disability assistance pursuant to section one hundred eleven-i 51 of the social services law. 52 (D) Where the combined parental income exceeds the amount set forth in 53 paragraph (b) of subdivision two of section one hundred eleven-i of the 54 social services law, the parties shall be informed at the expedited 55 settlement conference that the law permits, but does not require, the 56 use of the child support percentages in calculating the child support
S. 245 3 1 obligation on the income above the statutory cap and that the child 2 support obligation for parental income above the statutory cap may be 3 determined pursuant to the factors listed in paragraph (f) of subdivi- 4 sion one of section four hundred thirteen of this article as an alterna- 5 tive to applying the child support percentages. 6 (E) To the extent resources are available in a family court, the expe- 7 dited settlement conference and subsequent appearances before a support 8 magistrate may be held virtually upon consent of the parties and in 9 accordance with subdivision (c) of section four hundred thirty-three of 10 this part. 11 (F) The court shall provide interpretation services for parties in 12 expedited child support settlement conferences when a court determines 13 that a party or witness, or an interested parent or guardian of a minor 14 party in such proceeding, is unable to understand and communicate in 15 English to the extent that they cannot meaningfully participate in such 16 proceedings. The clerk of the court or another designated administrative 17 officer shall schedule an interpreter at no expense from an approved 18 list maintained by the office of court administration. The court may 19 permit an interpreter to interpret by telephone or live audiovisual 20 means. If no pre-approved interpreter is available, the clerk of the 21 court or another designated administrative officer shall schedule an 22 interpreter at no expense as justice requires. This subparagraph shall 23 not alter or diminish the court's authority and duty to assure justness 24 in proceedings before it. A person with limited English proficiency, 25 other than a person testifying as a witness, may waive a court-appointed 26 interpreter, with the consent of the court, if the person provides their 27 own interpreter at their own expense. 28 (v) Issuance of a child support stipulation or referral to a support 29 magistrate; effect. (A) If an expedited settlement conference results in 30 an agreement of the parties, each party shall sign the child support 31 stipulation and same shall be provided to a support magistrate for 32 review and confirmation on the date of the conference. A child support 33 order issued under this section and confirmed by a court pursuant to 34 section four hundred twenty-five of this article constitutes an order of 35 the court and is enforceable by any means available for the enforcement 36 of child support obligations under this part, this article, article 37 five-b of this chapter, article fifty-two of the civil practice law and 38 rules, or any other applicable provisions of law. 39 (B) If a conference does not result in agreement by all parties to the 40 child support order, the parties shall be referred to a support magis- 41 trate on the date of the conference for continued proceedings on the 42 petition for support. 43 (vi) Evaluation and data reporting. The court administration shall 44 make publicly available an annual report on data related to measures of 45 the operation and impact of family court expedited settlement conference 46 processes including, but not limited to: 47 (A) the number of support orders established through expedited settle- 48 ment conference processes. 49 (B) the average time required to complete the process for cases where 50 parties reach agreement such as the time between filing and issuance of 51 child support order upon stipulation. 52 (C) the number of cases in which the expedited settlement conference 53 process is deemed unavailable to parties because they are also parties 54 to a temporary or final order of protection.
S. 245 4 1 (D) the percentage of cases in which the expedited settlement confer- 2 ence process is begun but then terminated without resulting in a stipu- 3 lation for child support. 4 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 5 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 6 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 7 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 8 completed on or before such effective date.