NY Soc Serv L § 384-C (2021)
2021 New York Laws SOS - Social Services Article 6 - Children Title 1 - Care and Protection of Children 384-C - Notice in Certain Proceedings to Fathers of Children Born Out-of-Wedlock.

§  384-c.  Notice  in  certain proceedings to fathers of children born out-of-wedlock. 1. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this or any other law, and in addition to the notice  requirements  of  any  law pertaining  to  persons other than those specified in subdivision two of this section, notice as provided herein shall be given  to  the  persons specified in subdivision two of this section of any proceeding initiated pursuant   to   sections  three  hundred  fifty-eight-a,  three  hundred eighty-four, and three hundred eighty-four-b of this chapter,  involving a  child  born  out-of-wedlock.  Persons specified in subdivision two of this section shall not include any person who has been convicted of  one or  more  of the following sexual offenses in this state or convicted of one or more offenses in another jurisdiction which, if committed in this state, would constitute one or more of the following offenses, when  the child  who  is  the subject of the proceeding was conceived as a result: (A) rape in first or second degree; (B) course of sexual conduct against a child in the first  degree;  (C)  predatory  sexual  assault;  or  (D) predatory sexual assault against a child.   2.  Persons  entitled  to  notice, pursuant to subdivision one of this section, shall include:  (a) any person adjudicated by a court in this state to be  the  father of the child;  (b) any person adjudicated by a court of another state or territory of the  United  States to be the father of the child, when a certified copy of the court order has been filed with  the  putative  father  registry, pursuant to section three hundred seventy-two-c of this chapter;  (c)  any  person who has timely filed an unrevoked notice of intent to claim  paternity  of  the  child,  pursuant  to  section  three  hundred seventy-two-c of this chapter;  (d) any person who is recorded on the child's birth certificate as the child's father;  (e)  any  person  who  is openly living with the child and the child's mother at the time the proceeding is initiated or at the time the  child was  placed  in  the  care  of  an authorized agency, and who is holding himself out to be the child's father;  (f) any person who has been identified as the child's  father  by  the mother in written, sworn statement;  (g) any person who was married to the child's mother within six months subsequent  to  the  birth  of the child and prior to the execution of a surrender instrument or the  initiation  of  a  proceeding  pursuant  to section three hundred eighty-four-b; and  (h)  any  person  who  has  filed with the putative father registry an instrument acknowledging paternity of the  child,  pursuant  to  section 4-1.2 of the estates, powers and trusts law.   3.  The provisions of this section shall not apply to persons entitled to notice pursuant  to  section  one  hundred  eleven  of  the  domestic relations law. The sole purpose of notice under this section shall be to enable the person served pursuant to subdivision two to present evidence to  the  court  relevant  to  the  best  interests  of the child. In any proceeding brought  upon  the  ground  specified  in  paragraph  (d)  of subdivision four of section three hundred eighty-four-b, a person served pursuant  to  this  section  may appear and present evidence only in the dispositional hearing.   4. Notice under this section shall be given at least twenty days prior to the proceeding by delivery of a copy of the petition  and  notice  to the  person.  Upon a showing to the court, by affidavit or otherwise, on or before the date of the proceeding or within such further time as  the court  may  allow,  that  personal  service  cannot  be  effected at the person's last known address with reasonable effort, notice may be given,  without prior court order therefor, at least twenty days  prior  to  the proceeding by registered or certified mail directed to the person's last known address or, where the person has filed a notice of intent to claim paternity  pursuant  to  section  three  hundred  seventy-two-c,  to the address last  entered  therein.  Notice  by  publication  shall  not  be required  to  be  given  to  a person entitled to notice pursuant to the provisions of this section.   5. A person may waive his  right  to  notice  under  this  section  by written  instrument  subscribed by him and acknowledged or proved in the manner required for the execution of a surrender instrument pursuant  to section three hundred eighty-four of this chapter.   6.  The  notice given to persons pursuant to this section shall inform them of the time, date, place and purpose of the  proceeding  and  shall also  apprise such persons that their failure to appear shall constitute a denial of their interest in the child which denial may result, without further notice, in the transfer  or  commitment  of  the  child's  care, custody  or  guardianship  or  in  the  child's  adoption in this or any subsequent proceeding in which such care,  custody  or  guardianship  or adoption may be at issue.   7.  No  order of the court in any proceeding pursuant to section three hundred  fifty-eight-a,  three  hundred  eighty-four  or  three  hundred eighty-four-b  of this chapter or in any subsequent proceeding involving the child's custody, guardianship or adoption shall be vacated, annulled or reversed upon the application of any person who was  properly  served with notice in accordance with this section but failed to appear, or who waived  notice  pursuant to subdivision five. Nor shall any order of the court in any proceeding involving the child's custody,  guardianship  or adoption  be  vacated,  annulled or reversed upon the application of any person who was properly served  with  notice  in  accordance  with  this section  in  any  previous proceeding in which the court determined that the transfer or commitment of the child's care, custody or  guardianship to an authorized agency was in the child's best interests.