We live in the age of expansion of parenting rights but the question of whether a child can have more than two legal parents has been shot down. New York law requires some kind of biological or firmly established legal connection between a prospective parent and their child. If a child already has two legally established parents the door is closed to any new prospective parent seeking to join the club. Here is an example of court reasoning:
The Fourth Department ruled that the former same sex partner of the mother could not seek custody and vistation of the child despite the mother’s support of the petition. The child’s biological father had already been established as the second legal parent to the child and visited the child, although he initially did not desire to do so. However, the final nail in the coffin was when the Court concluded that New York Domestic Relations Law Section 70 contemplated based on its wording, that a child can only have two legal parents. That is because “It states that “either” parent may seek custody or visitation.”
If you are seeking custody of a child or to defend a petition by a prospective parent to your child, contact Diana Mohyi Attorney at Law for counsel on the matter.