S 4-1.2 Inheritance by non-marital children
(a) For the purposes of this article:
(1) A non-marital child is the legitimate child of his mother so that
he and his issue inherit from his mother and from his maternal kindred.
(2) A non-marital child is the legitimate child of his father so that
he and his issue inherit from his father and his paternal kindred if:
(A) a court of competent jurisdiction has, during the lifetime of the
father, made an order of filiation declaring paternity or the mother and
father of the child have executed an acknowledgment of paternity
pursuant to section four thousand one hundred thirty-five-b of the
public health law, which has been filed with the registrar of the
district in which the birth certificate has been filed or;
(B) the father of the child has signed an instrument acknowledging
paternity, provided that
(i) such instrument is acknowledged or executed or proved in the form
required to entitle a deed to be recorded in the presence of one or more
witnesses and acknowledged by such witness or witnesses, in either case,
before a notary public or other officer authorized to take proof of
deeds and
(ii) such instrument is filed within sixty days from the making
thereof with the putative father registry established by the state
department of social services pursuant to section three hundred
seventy-two-c of the social services law, as added by chapter six
hundred sixty-five of the laws of nineteen hundred seventy-six and
(iii) the department of social services shall, within seven days of
the filing of the instrument, send written notice by registered mail to
the mother and other legal guardian of such child, notifying them that
an acknowledgment of paternity instrument acknowledged or executed by
such father has been duly filed or;
(C) paternity has been established by clear and convincing evidence
and the father of the child has openly and notoriously acknowledged the
child as his own; or
(D) a blood genetic marker test had been administered to the father
which together with other evidence establishes paternity by clear and
convincing evidence.
(3) The existence of an agreement obligating the father to support
the non-marital child does not qualify such child or his issue to
inherit from the father in the absence of an order of filiation made or
acknowledgement of paternity as prescribed by subparagraph (2).
(4) A motion for relief from an order of filiation may be made only
by the father and a motion for relief from an acknowledgement of
paternity may be made by the father, mother or other legal guardian of
such child, or the child, provided however, such motion must be made
within one year from the entry of such order or from the date of written
notice as provided for in subparagraph (2).
(b) If a non-marital child dies, his surviving spouse, issue, mother,
maternal kindred, father and paternal kindred inherit and are entitled
to letters of administration as if the decedent were legitimate,
provided that the father and paternal kindred may inherit or obtain such
letters only if the paternity of the non-marital child has been
established pursuant to provisions of clause (A) of subparagraph (2) of
paragraph (a) or the father has signed an instrument acknowledging
paternity and filed the same in accordance with the provisions of clause
(B) of subparagraph (2) of paragraph (a) or paternity has been
established by clear and convincing evidence and the father of the child
has openly and notoriously acknowledged the child as his own.
S 4-1.4 Disqualification of parent to take intestate share
(a) No distributive share in the estate of a deceased child shall be
allowed to a parent who has failed or refused to provide for, or has
abandoned such child while such child is under the age of twenty-one
years, whether or not such child dies before having attained the age of
twenty-one years, unless the parental relationship and duties are
subsequently resumed and continue until the death of the child. Subject
to the provisions of subdivision eight of section two hundred thirteen
of the civil practice law and rules, this paragraph shall not apply to a
biological parent who places such child for adoption with a person or
agency based upon: (1) a fraudulent promise, not kept, to arrange for
and complete adoption of such child, or (2) other fraud or deceit by the
person or agency where, before the death of the child, the person or
agency fails to arrange for the adoptive placement or petition for the
adoption of the child, and fails to comply timely with conditions
imposed by the court for the adoption to proceed.
(b) In the event that a parent or spouse is disqualified from taking a
distributive share in the estate of a decedent, under this section or
5-1.2, the estate of such decedent shall be distributed in accordance
with 4-1.1 as though such spouse or parent had predeceased the decedent.
Sec. 4-1.5 Other disqualifications
No estate property, whether passing by intestacy or
otherwise, which has its situs in this state, shall pass to any
other state or territory of the United States, or to any foreign
country or sovereignty in the event of the absence of an
individual heir, distributee, legatee or owner of said property,
but shall pass as abandoned property to the state of New York,
and shall be held as such property pursuant to the abandoned
property law.
S 4-1.6 Disqualification of joint tenant in certain instances
Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a joint
tenant convicted of murder in the second degree as defined in section
125.25 of the penal law or murder in the first degree as defined in
section 125.27 of the penal law of another joint tenant shall not be
entitled to the distribution of any monies in a joint bank account
created or contributed to by the deceased joint tenant, except for
those monies contributed by the convicted joint tenant.
Upon the conviction of such joint tenant of first or second degree
murder and upon application by the prosecuting attorney, the court, as
part of its sentence, shall issue an order directing the amount of any
joint bank account to be distributed pursuant to the provisions of this
section from the convicted joint tenant and to the deceased joint
tenant`s estate. The court and the prosecuting attorney shall each have
the power to subpoena records of a banking institution to determine the
amount of money in such bank account and by whom deposits were made. The
court shall also have the power to freeze such account upon application
by the prosecuting attorney during the pendency of a trial for first or
second degree murder. If, upon receipt of such court orders described in
this section, the banking institution holding monies in such joint
account complies with the terms of the order, such banking institution
shall be held free from all liability for the distribution of such funds
as were in such joint account. In the absence of actual or constructive
notice of such order, the banking institution holding monies in such
account shall be held harmless for distributing the money according to
its ordinary course of business.
For purposes of this section, the term banking institution shall have
the same meaning as provided for in paragraph (b) of subdivision three
of section nine-f of the banking law.