(a) All papers submitted in an adoption proceeding shall comply with section 205.7 of this Part.
(b) In addition to those papers required by the Domestic Relations Law, the following papers, unless otherwise dispensed with by the court, shall be submitted and filed prior to the placement of any adoption proceeding on the calendar:
(1) a certified copy of the birth certificate of the adoptive child;
(2) an affidavit or affidavits by an attorney admitted to practice in the State of New York or, in the discretion of the court, by a person other than an attorney who is known to the court, identifying each of the parties;
(3) a certified marriage certificate, where the adoptive parents are husband and wife or where an individual adoptive parent is the spouse of the birth parent;
(4) a certified copy of a decree or judgment, where an adoptive parent’s marriage has been terminated by decree or judgment;
(5) a certified death certificate, where an adoptive or birth parent’s marriage has been terminated by death or where it is alleged that consent or notice is not required because of death;
(6) a proposed order of adoption;
(7) a copy of the attorney’s affidavit of financial disclosure filed with the Office of Court Administration pursuant to section 603.23, 691.23, 806.14 or 1022.33 of this Title; and either an attorney’s affirmation that the affidavit has been personally delivered or mailed in accordance with such rules or the dated receipt from the Office of Court Administration;
(8) an affidavit of financial disclosure from the adoptive parent or parents, and from any person whose consent to the adoption is required by law, setting forth the following information:
(i) name, address and telephone number of the affiant;
(ii) status of the affiant in the proceeding and relationship, if any, to the adoptive child;
(iii) docket number of the adoption proceeding;
(iv) the date and terms of every agreement, written or otherwise, between the affiant and any attorney pertaining to any fees, compensation or other remuneration paid or to be paid by or on behalf of the adoptive parents or the birth parents, directly or indirectly, including but not limited to retainer fees on account of or incidental to the placement or adoption of the child or assistance in arrangements for such placement or adoption;
(v) the total amount of fees, compensation or other remuneration to be paid to such attorney by the affiant, directly or indirectly, including the date and amounts of each payment already made, if any, on account of or incidental to the placement or adoption of the child or assistance in arrangements for such placement or adoption;
(vi) the name and address of any other person, agency, association, corporation, institution, society or organization who received or will receive any fees, compensation or other remuneration from the affiant, directly or indirectly, on account of or incidental to the birth or care of the adoptive child, the pregnancy or care of the adoptive child’s birth mother or the placement or adoption of the child and on account of or incidental to assistance in arrangements for such placement or proposed adoption; the amount of each such fee, compensation or other remuneration; and the reason for or services rendered, if any, in connection with each such fee, compensation or other remuneration; and
(vii) the name and address of any person, agency, association, corporation, society or organization who has or will pay the affiant any fee, compensation or other remuneration, directly or indirectly, on account of or incidental to the birth or care of the adoptive child, the pregnancy or care of the adoptive child’s birth mother, or the placement or adoption of the child and on account of or incidental to assistance in arrangements for such placement or adoption; the amount of each such fee, compensation or other remuneration; and the reason for or services rendered, if any, in connection with each such fee, compensation or other remuneration;
(9) in the case of an adoption from an authorized agency in accordance with title 2 of article 7 of the Domestic Relations Law, a copy of the criminal history summary report made by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services to the authorized agency pursuant to section 378-a of the Social Services Law regarding the criminal record or records of the prospective adoptive parent or parents and any adult over the age of 18 currently residing in the home, including fingerprint-based records of the national crime information databases, as defined in section 534(e)(3)(A) of Title 28 of the United States Code, as well as a report from the New York State Central Registry of Child Abuse and Maltreatment regarding any indicated reports regarding the prospective adoptive parent or parents and any adult over the age of 18 currently residing in the home and from the child abuse and maltreatment registry, if any, of any state in which the prospective adoptive parents and any adult over the age of 18 have resided during the five years immediately prior to the filing of the petition;
(10) in the case of an adoption from an authorized agency, an affidavit by the attorney for the agency attesting to the fact that no appeal from a surrender, surrender revocation or termination of parental rights proceeding is pending in any court and that a notice of entry of the final order of disposition of the surrender, surrender revocation or termination of parental rights proceeding had been served upon the child’s attorney, the attorneys for the respondent parents or the parents themselves, if they were self-represented, as well as any other parties;
(11) in the case of an adoption from an authorized agency in which a post-adoption contact agreement has been approved by the Family Court in conjunction with a surrender of the child, a copy of the post-adoption contact agreement, as well as the order of the Court that approved the agreement as being in the child’s best interests, and
(12) in the case of an adoption petition filed either before a different judge in a different court or a court in a different county regarding a child under the jurisdiction of the Family Court as a result of a placement in foster care pursuant to Article 10 or 10-A of the Family Court Act or section 358-a of the Social Services Law, an affirmation by the attorney for the petitioner on a uniform form promulgated by the Chief Administrator of the Courts attesting to the reasons for, and circumstances regarding, such filing.
(13) in the case of an adoption petition filed with consents by a birth parent or parents as required by section 111 of the Domestic Relations Law, the adoption information registry birth parent registration consent form required by sections 112 and 115-b of the Domestic Relations Law and subdivision 10 of section 4138-c of the Public Health Law.
(c) Prior to the signing of an order of adoption, the court may in its discretion require the filing of a supplemental affidavit by the adoptive parent or parents, any person whose consent to the adoption is required, the authorized agency and the attorney for any of the aforementioned, setting forth any additional information pertaining to allegations in the petition or in any affidavit filed in the proceeding.
Historical Note
Sec. filed Jan. 9, 1986; amds. filed: Sept. 23, 1991; Feb. 5, 2001 eff. Jan. 31, 2001. Added (c)(9).
Amended on Oct. 26, 2005.
Amended on Feb. 13, 2007.
Amended on Sept. 24, 2008
Amended (b)(10) on Oct. 5, 2010