New York Family Court

New York State Unified Court System

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The Family Court of the State of New York is a specialized court of the New York State Unified Court System located in each county of the state.[1][2][3] The New York City Family Court is the name given to the state Family Court within New York City.

Jurisdiction

It is a family court that hears cases involving children and families and handles issues such as child abuse and neglect (child protection), adoption, child custody and visitation, domestic violence, guardianship, juvenile delinquency, paternity, persons in need of supervision (PINS), and child support.[4] In New York City, it has concurrent jurisdiction with the New York City Criminal Court for family offenses (domestic violence).

The Family Court building in Manhattan

Family Court does not have jurisdiction over divorces, which must be litigated in the Supreme Court, and although Criminal Court domestic violence parts typically hear all cases involving crimes against intimate partners (whether opposite- or same-sex), New York law defines family offenses to include only those related by blood, actual marriage (common law marriage is not recognized in New York), or a child in common.

Judges

In the New York City Family Court (the "Family Court of the State of New York within the City of New York"), judges are appointed by the Mayor to ten-year terms; elsewhere they are elected to ten-year terms.[1]

Justice Jane Bolin became the first black female judge in the United States when Mayor Fiorello La Guardia swore her in to the bench of the Family Court, then called the Domestic Relations Court, in 1939. Her 10-year appointment was renewed by the city's mayors three times until she reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Constitution of the State of New York Article VI, § 13. "a. The family court of the state of New York is hereby established. It shall consist of at least one judge in each county outside the city of New York and such number of additional judges for such counties as may be provided by law. Within the city of New York it shall consist of such number of judges as may be provided by law. The judges of the family court within the city of New York shall be residents of such city and shall be appointed by the mayor of the city of New York for terms of ten years. The judges of the family court outside the city of New York, shall be chosen by the electors of the counties wherein they reside for terms of ten years. [...]"
  2. ↑ Family Court Act § 113. "The family court of the state of New York is established in each county of the state as part of the unified court system for the state."
  3. ↑ New York City Bar Association 2012, pp. 3-5.
  4. ↑ New York City Bar Association 2012, p. 1.

References

External links

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