STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
512
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. PALUMBO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the domestic relations law and the family court act, in
relation to orders for child custody
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subparagraph 4 of paragraph (a-1) of subdivision 1 of
2 section 240 of the domestic relations law, as amended by chapter 295 of
3 the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
4 (4) Notifying counsel and issuing orders. Upon consideration of deci-
5 sions pursuant to article ten of the family court act, and registry
6 reports and notifying counsel involved in the proceeding, or in the
7 event of a self-represented party, notifying such party of the results
8 thereof, including any court appointed attorney for children, the court
9 may issue a temporary, successive temporary or final order of custody or
10 visitation; provided, that a final order of custody or visitation shall
11 be issued within six months following the preliminary conference or
12 initial appearance on the petition.
13 § 2. Paragraph 4 of subdivision (e) of section 651 of the family court
14 act, as amended by chapter 295 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read
15 as follows:
16 4. Notifying counsel and issuing orders. Upon consideration of deci-
17 sions pursuant to article ten of this act, and registry reports and
18 notifying counsel involved in the proceeding, or in the event of a self-
19 represented party, notifying such party of the results thereof, includ-
20 ing any court appointed attorney for children, the court may issue a
21 temporary, successive temporary or final order of custody or visitation;
22 provided, that a final order of custody or visitation shall be issued
23 within six months following the preliminary conference or initial
24 appearance on the petition or order to show cause.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02118-01-5
S. 512 2
1 § 3. Subdivision (a) of section 1089 of the family court act, as added
2 by section 27 of part A of chapter 3 of the laws of 2005, paragraph 1 as
3 amended by chapter 342 of the laws of 2010, paragraph 2 as amended by
4 chapter 605 of the laws of 2011 and paragraph 3 as amended by chapter
5 437 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
6 (a) Scheduling, commencement and completion of permanency hearings.
7 (1) Children freed for adoption. (i) At the conclusion of the disposi-
8 tional hearing at which the child was freed for adoption in a proceeding
9 pursuant to section three hundred eighty-three-c, three hundred eighty-
10 four or three hundred eighty-four-b of the social services law, the
11 court shall set a date certain for the initial freed child permanency
12 hearing and advise all parties in court of the date set, except for the
13 respondent or respondents. The permanency hearing shall be commenced no
14 later than thirty days after the hearing at which the child was freed
15 and shall be completed within thirty days, unless the court determines
16 to hold the permanency hearing immediately upon completion of the hear-
17 ing at which the child was freed, provided adequate notice has been
18 given.
19 (ii) At the conclusion of the hearing pursuant to section one thousand
20 ninety-one of this act where the court has granted the motion for a
21 former foster care youth who was discharged from foster care due to a
22 failure to consent to continuation of placement to return to the custody
23 of the local commissioner of social services or other officer, board or
24 department authorized to receive children as public charges, the court
25 shall set a date certain for a permanency hearing and advise all parties
26 in court of the date set. The permanency hearing shall be commenced no
27 later than thirty days after the hearing at which the former foster care
28 youth was returned to foster care.
29 (iii) A final order of custody in a permanency hearing issued under
30 this section shall be issued within six months following the initial
31 permanency hearing.
32 (2) All other permanency hearings. At the conclusion of the hearing
33 pursuant to section one thousand twenty-two, one thousand twenty-seven,
34 one thousand fifty-two, one thousand eighty-nine, one thousand ninety-
35 one, one thousand ninety-four or one thousand ninety-five of this act at
36 which the child was remanded or placed and upon the court's approval of
37 a voluntary placement instrument pursuant to section three hundred
38 fifty-eight-a of the social services law, the court shall set a date
39 certain for an initial permanency hearing, advise all parties in court
40 of the date set and include the date in the order. Orders issued in
41 subsequent court hearings prior to the permanency hearing, including,
42 but not limited to, the order of placement issued pursuant to section
43 one thousand fifty-five of this act, shall include the date certain for
44 the permanency hearing. The final order in the initial permanency hear-
45 ing shall be [commenced] issued no later than six months from the date
46 [which is sixty days after] the child was removed from [his or her]
47 their home[; provided, however, that if a sibling or half-sibling of the
48 child has previously been removed from the home and has a permanency
49 hearing date certain scheduled within the next eight months, the perman-
50 ency hearing for each child subsequently removed from the home shall be
51 scheduled on the same date certain that has been set for the first child
52 removed from the home, unless such sibling or half-sibling has been
53 removed from the home pursuant to article three or seven of this act.
54 The permanency hearing shall be completed within thirty days of the
55 scheduled date certain].
S. 512 3
1 (3) Subsequent permanency hearings for a child who continues in out-
2 of-home placement or who is freed for adoption shall be scheduled for a
3 date certain which shall be no later than six months from the completion
4 of the previous permanency hearing and such subsequent permanency hear-
5 ings shall be completed within thirty days of the date certain set for
6 such hearings.
7 § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
8 have become a law and shall apply to proceedings commenced on and after
9 such date.
