N.Y. Domestic Relations Law § 110: Who may adopt; effect of article

§ 110. Who may adopt; effect of article. An adult unmarried person,

an adult married couple together, or any two unmarried adult intimate

partners together may adopt another person. An adult married person who

is living separate and apart from his or her spouse pursuant to a decree

or judgment of separation or pursuant to a written agreement of

separation subscribed by the parties thereto and acknowledged or proved

in the form required to entitle a deed to be recorded or an adult

married person who has been living separate and apart from his or her

spouse for at least three years prior to commencing an adoption

proceeding may adopt another person; provided, however, that the person

so adopted shall not be deemed the child or step-child of the

non-adopting spouse for the purposes of inheritance or support rights or

obligations or for any other purposes. An adult or minor married couple

together may adopt a child of either of them born in or out of wedlock

and an adult or minor spouse may adopt such a child of the other spouse.

No person shall hereafter be adopted except in pursuance of this

article, and in conformity with section three hundred seventy-three of

the social services law.

An adult married person who has executed a legally enforceable

separation agreement or is a party to a marriage in which a valid decree

of separation has been entered or has been living separate and apart

from his or her spouse for at least three years prior to commencing an

adoption proceeding and who becomes or has been the custodian of a child

placed in their care as a result of court ordered foster care may apply

to such authorized agency for placement of said child with them for the

purpose of adoption. Final determination of the propriety of said

adoption of such foster child, however, shall be within the sole

discretion of the court, as otherwise provided herein.

Adoption is the legal proceeding whereby a person takes another person

into the relation of child and thereby acquires the rights and incurs

the responsibilities of parent in respect of such other person.

A proceeding conducted in pursuance of this article shall constitute a

judicial proceeding. An order of adoption or abrogation made therein by

a surrogate or by a judge shall have the force and effect of and shall

be entitled to all the presumptions attaching to a judgment rendered by

a court of general jurisdiction in a common law action.

No adoption heretofore lawfully made shall be abrogated by the

enactment of this article. All such adoptions shall have the effect of

lawful adoptions hereunder.

Nothing in this article in regard to a minor adopted pursuant hereto

inheriting from the adoptive parent applies to any will, devise or trust

made or created before June twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred

seventy-three, nor alters, changes or interferes with such will, devise

or trust. As to any such will, devise or trust a minor adopted before

that date is not an heir so as to alter estates or trusts or devises in

wills so made or created. Nothing in this article in regard to an adult

adopted pursuant hereto inheriting from the adoptive parent applies to

any will, devise or trust made or created before April twenty-second,

nineteen hundred fifteen, nor alters, changes or interferes with such

will, devise or trust. As to any such will, devise or trust an adult so

adopted is not an heir so as to alter estates or trusts or devises in

wills so made or created.

It shall be unlawful to preclude a prospective adoptive parent or

parents solely on the basis that the adoptor or adopters has had, or has

cancer, or any other disease. Nothing herein shall prevent the rejection

of a prospective applicant based upon his or her poor health or limited

life expectancy.

A petition to adopt, pursuant to the terms of this article, where the

petitioner's parentage is legally-recognized under New York State law

shall not be denied solely on the basis that the petitioner's parentage

is already legally-recognized.