Uniform Rules § 207.54

Adoption rules; application · as in force on May 31, 2026

(a) Sections 207.54 through 207.58 of this Part shall be applicable to all agency and private-placement adoption proceedings in Surrogate's Court.

(b) In any agency adoption, a petition may be filed to adopt a child who is the subject of a termination of parental rights proceeding and whose custody and guardianship has not yet been committed to an authorized agency, provided that:

(1) the adoption petition is filed in the same court where the termination of parental rights proceeding is pending; and

(2) the adoption petition, supporting documents and the fact of their filing shall not be provided to the judge before whom the petition for termination of parental rights is pending until such time as fact-finding is concluded under that petition.

Official sourcehttps://www.nycourts.gov/rules/part-207-uniform-rules-surrogates-court

In plain English

This rule says which adoption rules apply and when an agency adoption may be filed while a termination of parental rights case is still pending.

(a) Sections 207.54 through 207.58 apply to all agency and private-placement adoptions in Surrogate's Court.
(b) In an agency adoption, a petition may be filed to adopt a child who is the subject of a termination of parental rights (TPR) proceeding and whose custody and guardianship has not yet been committed to an authorized agency, provided that:
(1) the adoption petition is filed in the same court where the TPR proceeding is pending; ★ and
(2) the adoption petition, supporting papers, and the fact they were filed shall not be given to the TPR judge until fact-finding in the TPR case is concluded. ★

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 Surrogate's Court in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Surrogate's Court: Court Rules & the EPTL; Volume 5 — Your Career: Surrogate's Court in Plain English.