BILL NUMBER: S9316
SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the family court act, the civil practice law and rules,
the domestic relations law, the executive law, the judiciary law, the
social services law, the general obligations law, the vehicle and traf-
fic law, the alcoholic beverage control law, and the education law, in
relation to substituting parentage for paternity and filiation; and to
repeal certain provisions of the family court act relating thereto
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To adjust language in the law to a more inclusive and gender-neutral
form, substituting "parentage" for "paternity" and "filiation."
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
The bill amends the family court act, the domestic relations law, the
social services law, the civil practice law and rules, the judiciary
law, the executive law, the general obligations law, the social services
law, the vehicle and traffic law, the alcoholic beverage control law,
and the education law to adjust the language from paternity and filia-
tion to parentage, so as to allow for gender-neutrality in the law.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The word paternity comes from the Latin word "paternitatem," which means
"fatherly care, fatherhood." While being used for centuries to determine
paternal origin, this term is strictly gender-related and refers to the
male parent of a child. In the alternative, the word "parentage" refers
to "a descent from parents or ancestors," focusing on the parental
conduct, and the relationship exhibited in the recognition and care for
children.
The Child-Parent Security Act (CPSA) became law in New York State in
2021, legalizing gestational surrogacy arrangement, and establishing
mechanisms which would allow to legally secure parental rights; the CPSA
uses gender neutral language, underscoring the importance of "acknowl-
edgments of parentage."
Following the lead of the CPSA, this bill will substitute the more
encompassing term "parentage" for the now-outdated terms "paternity" and
"filiation." This would result in making this terminology consistent
across all applicable statuses. Courts have recognized how the concept
of parentage can be established in a variety of ways, not simply those
which are delineated in the Family Court Act. This drives the need for
important legislative change. Courts have recognized how non-biological,
non-adoptive parents can be treated as legal parents in certain circum-
stances (Brooke S.B. v. Elizabeth A.C.C., 28 NY3d 1 (2016)), and this
led to the application of principles of equitable estoppel to questions
of parentage/paternity (Shondel J. v. Mark D., 7 NY3d 320 (2006)). Advo-
cates urge for the need to modernize, catching up with evolving defi-
nitions of parenthood.
By adjusting language in the law, not only it is possible to make it
more inclusive, but it also determines the utilization of a term which
encompasses a broader concept of parental care - not one strictly
related to "fatherhood."
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first day of November after it shall
have become a law; and provided, further, that section sixty-three-a of
this act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as
section 2 of part CCC of chapter 56 of the laws of 2022 takes effect;
and provided further, that the amendments made to subdivision 4-e of
section 510 of the vehicle and traffic law made by section sixty-six of
this act shall not affect the repeal of such subdivision and shall be
deemed repealed therewith.

Statutes affected:
S9316: 75-a domestic relations law, 75-a(4) domestic relations law, 240 domestic relations law, 240(1) domestic relations law, 244-b domestic relations law, 244-c domestic relations law, 244-d domestic relations law, 256 executive law, 256(6) executive law, 111-c social services law, 111-c(2) social services law, 111-d social services law, 111-d(1) social services law, 111-p social services law, 111-r social services law, 111-s social services law, 111-s(1) social services law, 111-v social services law, 111-v(2) social services law, 131 social services law, 131(16) social services law, 366 social services law, 366(1) social services law, 3-503 general obligations law, 3-503(4) general obligations law, 510 vehicle and traffic law, 510(4-e) vehicle and traffic law