N.Y. Domestic Relations Law § 112-b: Post-adoption contact agreements; judicial approval; enforcement

§ 112-b. Post-adoption contact agreements; judicial approval;

enforcement. 1. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit

the parties to a proceeding under this chapter from entering into an

agreement regarding communication with or contact between an adoptive

child, adoptive parent or parents and a birth parent or parents and/or

the adoptive child's biological siblings or half-siblings.

2. Agreements regarding communication or contact between an adoptive

child, adoptive parent or parents, and a birth parent or parents and/or

biological siblings or half-siblings of an adoptive child shall not be

legally enforceable unless the terms of the agreement are incorporated

into a written court order entered in accordance with the provisions of

this section. The court shall not incorporate an agreement regarding

communication or contact into an order unless the terms and conditions

of the agreement have been set forth in writing and consented to in

writing by the parties to the agreement, including the attorney

representing the adoptive child. The court shall not enter a proposed

order unless the court that approved the surrender of the child

determined and stated in its order that the communication with or

contact between the adoptive child, the prospective adoptive parent or

parents and a birth parent or parents and/or biological siblings or

half-siblings, as agreed upon and as set forth in the agreement, would

be in the adoptive child's best interests. Notwithstanding any other

provision of law, a copy of the order entered pursuant to this section

incorporating the post-adoption contact agreement shall be given to all

parties who have agreed to the terms and conditions of such order.

3. Failure to comply with the terms and conditions of an approved

order regarding communication or contact that has been entered by the

court pursuant to this section shall not be grounds for setting aside an

adoption decree or revocation of written consent to an adoption after

that consent has been approved by the court as provided in this section.

4. An order incorporating an agreement regarding communication or

contact entered under this section may be enforced by any party to the

agreement or the attorney for the child by filing a petition in the

family court in the county where the adoption was approved. Such

petition shall have annexed to it a copy of the order approving the

agreement regarding communication or contact. The court shall not

enforce an order under this section unless it finds that the enforcement

is in the child's best interests.

5. If a birth parent has surrendered a child to an authorized agency

pursuant to the provisions of section three hundred eighty-three-c or

section three hundred eighty-four of the social services law, and if the

court before whom the surrender instrument was presented for approval

approved an agreement providing for communication or contact pursuant to

paragraph (a) of subdivision two of section three hundred eighty-

three-c or paragraph (a) of subdivision two of section three hundred

eighty-four of the social services law, a copy of the surrender

instrument and of the approved agreement shall be annexed to the

petition of adoption. The court shall issue an order incorporating the

terms and conditions of the approved agreement into the order of

adoption. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a copy of any

order entered pursuant to this subdivision shall be given to the parties

who approved such agreement.

6. If a surrender instrument executed by a birth parent pursuant to

section three hundred eighty-three-c or three hundred eighty-four of the

social services law contains terms and conditions that provide for

communication with or contact between a child and a birth parent or

parents, such terms and conditions shall not be legally enforceable

after any adoption approved by a court pursuant to this article unless

the court has entered an order pursuant to this section incorporating

those terms and conditions into a court ordered adoption agreement.