BILL NUMBER: S513
SPONSOR: PALUMBO
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the domestic relations law, in relation to the rights of
grandparents with respect to visitation rights with minor children
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to require that grandparents be granted
legal standing by a judge being considered for visitation rights of a
minor child.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends subsection (1) of section 72 of the domestic relations
law to establish the requirements of the petitioner and of the court in
a case to overturn a parental decision regarding visitation with their
child. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) is amended to specify that any
child in question must reside in this state. A new paragraph (b) is
added to stipulate that a presumption exists in favor of parental deci-
sions and any petitioner wishing to overturn such a decision must allege
that a decision to deny visitation would not be in the best interest of
the child. Additionally, the court shall be required to conduct its own
search to determine whether a petitioner is a fit and proper person to
have visitation rights and whether petitioner has had a domestic
violence incident report filed against him or her, had allegations of
domestic violence, child abuse, child sexual abuse or incidents involv-
ing harm or risk of harm made against him or her, has ever been subject
to an order of protection or has a criminal history. This subsection
also stipulates that a court shall not assign a child a guardian ad
litem until such time as petitioner's standing is determined. Paragraph
(c) of subsection (1) is amended to clarify that any finding concerning
the best interests of the child shall be in writing and shall be subject
to a strong presumption that the parents' decision is in the child's
best interest. A new subsection (3) is added to allow the court to
direct an unsuccessful petitioner to pay costs and allowances where the
court finds petitioner brought the contest in bad faith or that the
contest was frivolous or non-meritorious.
Section 2. Effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
New York State law currently enables grandparents who have an abusive
history with their child to extend that history of abuse by bringing a
lawsuit to gain visitation rights with their grandchild. Such law- suits
result in great financial and emotional expense to parents seeking to
protect their child and deny any abusive grandparent's attempt to gain
visitation rights.
Parents who do not allow grandparents to visit their children for safety
reasons, for example, because the grandparent has a history of sexual
abuse of children, are now often forced to expend tens of thousands of
dollars in legal fees and make multiple court appearances in response to
grandparents' lawsuits. In such instances, it is not uncommon for a
family in New York State to pay $50,000 or more in legal costs and spend
months and months attending court appearances. This bill seeks to
prevent such situations by:
(1) Requiring a grandparent who seeks to overturn a parental decision to
deny visitation rights to allege, with detail and specificity, that the
child would experience significant harm to their health, safety or
welfare if visitation was denied;
(2) Requiring that a grandparent, prior to filing a petition, have made
a good faith attempt at reconciliation with their child;
(3) Requiring the court to conduct its own search to determine whether a
petitioner is a fit and proper person to have visitation rights and
whether allegation of domestic violence, child abuse, child sexual abuse
or incidents of harm or risk of harm to a child have been made against a
grandparent or whether prior police reports or a domestic violence inci-
dent report has been filed against a grandparent
(4) Requiring that the court may not determine whether a grandparent has
standing to commence a proceeding to gain visitation rights with a child
on the same day that a determination to establish the best interests of
the child is made; and
(5) Allowing the court to direct that costs and allowances of a proceed-
ing, including attorney's fees be payable by an unsuccessful petitioner
where the court finds that the contest was brought in bad faith or was
frivolous or non-meritorious.
These changes to the law will prevent parents and their children from
making unnecessary trips to the courtroom; protect them from the
emotional difficulties of testifying about personal and sometimes trau-
matic family matters; and provide an avenue for families to receive
financial compensation for lawsuits brought against them in bad faith.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024 S.7470/A.2886; 2021-22 S.2165/A.1355; 2019-20; S.5252/A.1544;
2017-18 S.6402/A.7821;
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.

Statutes affected:
S513: 72 domestic relations law