2023 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  and  three  hundred
eighty-four  of  this  title,  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 of this section  to
present  evidence  to  the  court  relevant to the best interests of the
child.
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  or three hundred eighty-four of this title 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  of  this section. 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.