DRL § 111-B

Determination of issue of paternity by surrogate; limitations · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 111-b. Determination of issue of paternity by surrogate; limitations. 1. In the course of an adoption proceeding conducted pursuant to this article the surrogate shall have jurisdiction to determine any issue of paternity arising in the course of the same proceeding and to make findings and issue an order thereon.

2. Such determination shall be made substantially in accordance with the relevant and otherwise consistent provisions of the family court act except that the surrogate shall have no power to grant any relief relating to support of the child as an incident thereto.

3. A judge of the family court shall continue to exercise all of the powers relating to adoption and declaration of paternity conferred upon the family court by law.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/DOM/111-B

In plain English

(1) In an adoption case, the surrogate may decide any paternity issue that arises, make findings and issue an order.
(2) The surrogate must generally follow the consistent Family Court Act rules but cannot award child support as part of that determination. ★
(3) A Family Court judge keeps all adoption and paternity-declaration powers that the law gives Family Court.

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 1 — The Court Clerk in Plain English; Volume 6 — The Court Clerk: Uniform Rules and Everything Else; Volume 4 — Your Career: Family & Related Law in Plain English.