US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

 
    §   112-b.   Post-adoption   contact  agreements;  judicial  approval;
  enforcement. 1. Nothing in this section shall be construed  to  prohibit
  the  parties  to  a  proceeding under this chapter from entering into an
  agreement regarding communication with or contact  between  an  adoptive
  child,  adoptive  parent or parents and a birth parent or parents and/or
  the adoptive child's biological siblings or half-siblings.
    2. Agreements regarding communication with contact between an adoptive
  child, adoptive parent or parents, and a birth parent or parents  and/or
  biological  siblings  or half-siblings of an adoptive child shall not be
  legally enforceable unless the terms of the agreement  are  incorporated
  into  a written court order entered in accordance with the provisions of
  this section. The court shall not  incorporate  an  agreement  regarding
  communication  or  contact into an order unless the terms and conditions
  of the agreement have been set forth in  writing  and  consented  to  in
  writing  by  the  parties  to  the agreement, including the law guardian
  representing the adoptive child. The court shall not  enter  a  proposed
  order unless it has found that the communication with or contact between
  the  adoptive  child,  the  prospective adoptive parent or parents and a
  birth parent or parents and/or biological siblings or half-siblings,  as
  agreed  upon and as set forth in the agreement, would be in the adoptive
  child's best interests. Notwithstanding any other provision  of  law,  a
  copy of any order entered pursuant to this section shall be given to all
  parties who have agreed to the terms and conditions of such order.
    3.  Failure  to  comply  with  the terms and conditions of an approved
  order regarding communication or contact that has been  entered  by  the
  court pursuant to this section shall not be grounds for setting aside an
  adoption  decree  or  revocation of written consent to an adoption after
  that consent has been approved by the court as provided in this section.
    4. An order incorporating  an  agreement  regarding  communication  or
  contact  entered  under this section may be enforced by any party to the
  agreement or the law guardian by filing a petition in the  family  court
  in  the county where the adoption was approved. Such petition shall have
  annexed to it a copy of the  order  approving  the  agreement  regarding
  communication  or  contact.  The  court shall not enforce an order under
  this section unless it finds that the enforcement is in the child's best
  interests.
    5. If a birth parent has surrendered a child to an  authorized  agency
  pursuant  to  the  provisions of section three hundred eighty-three-c or
  section three hundred eighty-four of the social services law, and if the
  court before whom the surrender instrument was  presented  for  approval
  approved an agreement providing for communication or contact pursuant to
  paragraph  (a)  of  subdivision  two  of  section  three hundred eighty-
  three-c or paragraph (a) of subdivision two  of  section  three  hundred
  eighty-four  of  the  social  services  law,  a  copy  of  the surrender
  instrument and of  the  approved  agreement  shall  be  annexed  to  the
  petition  of  adoption. The court shall issue an order incorporating the
  terms and conditions  of  the  approved  agreement  into  the  order  of
  adoption.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of law, a copy of any
  order entered pursuant to this subdivision shall be given to the parties
  who approved such agreement.
    6. If a surrender instrument executed by a birth  parent  pursuant  to
  section three hundred eighty-three-c or three hundred eighty-four of the
  social  services  law  contains  terms  and  conditions that provide for
  communication with or contact between a child  and  a  birth  parent  or
  parents,  such  terms  and  conditions  shall not be legally enforceable
  after any adoption approved by a court pursuant to this  article  unless
  the  court  has  entered an order pursuant to this section incorporating
  those terms and conditions into a court ordered adoption agreement.