§ 115. General provisions relating to private-placement adoptions. 1.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this title, private-placement
adoptions shall be effected in the same manner as provided in sections
one hundred twelve and one hundred fourteen of title two of this
article.

(b) A person or persons seeking to commence a private-placement
adoption shall, prior to the submission of a petition for such adoption
and prior to any transfer of physical custody of an adoptive child, be
certified as a qualified adoptive parent or parents by a court of
competent jurisdiction pursuant to section one hundred fifteen-d of this
title. The provisions of such section may be waived upon the court's
own motion or upon the application of any party for good cause shown.

(c) A non-resident person or persons seeking to commence a
private-placement adoption of a child present within the state at the
time of placement shall, prior to any transfer of physical custody of an
adoptive child, make application for certification as a qualified
adoptive parent or parents by a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant
to section one hundred fifteen-d of this title. Upon application of such
person or persons, the court of the county to which the certification
petition is properly filed may take or retain jurisdiction of the
adoption proceeding. The provisions of this paragraph may be waived upon
the court's own motion or upon the application of any party for good
cause shown.

2. The proceeding shall be instituted in the county where the adoptive
parents reside or, if such adoptive parents do not reside in this state,
in the county where the adoptive child resides.

3. The adoptive parents or parent, the adoptive child and all persons
whose consent is required by section one hundred eleven of this article
must appear for examination before the judge or surrogate of the court
where the adoption proceedings are instituted. The judge or surrogate
may dispense with the personal appearance of the adoptive child or of an
adoptive parent who is on active duty in the armed forces of the United
States.

4. The agreement of adoption shall be executed by the adoptive parents
or parent.

5. Where the petition alleges that either or both of the birth parents
of the child have been deprived of civil rights or are mentally ill or
developmentally disabled, proof shall be submitted that such disability
exists at the time of the proposed adoption.

6. The adoptive parent or parents shall also present in an affidavit a
description of any change of circumstances since their certification as
a qualified adoptive parent or parents, pursuant to section one hundred
fifteen-d of this title, which may be relevant and material to such
certification.

7. Where the adoptive child is to be adopted upon the consent of some
person other than his father or mother, there shall also be presented
the affidavit of such person showing how he or she obtained lawful
custody of the child.

8. The adoptive parent or parents shall also present an affidavit
describing all fees, compensation and other remunerations paid by such
parent or parents on account of or incidental to the birth or care of
the adoptive child, the pregnancy or care of the adoptive child's mother
or the placement or adoption of the child and on account of or
incidental to assistance in arrangements for such placement or adoption.
The attorney representing the adoptive parents shall also present an
affidavit describing all fees, compensation and other remuneration
received by him on account of or incidental to the placement or adoption
of the child or assistance in arrangements for such placement or
adoption.

9. The petition must be verified, the agreement and consents executed
and acknowledged, the proof given and the affidavit sworn to by the
respective persons before such judge or surrogate; but where the
verification, agreement or consent of an adoptive parent, birth parent
or person whose consent is necessary to the adoption is duly
acknowledged or proved and certified in form sufficient to entitle a
conveyance to be recorded in this state, (except that when executed and
acknowledged within the state of New York, no certificate of the county
clerk shall be required), such judge or surrogate may grant the order of
adoption without the personal appearance of such adoptive parent, birth
parent or person. The judge or surrogate may, in his discretion,
dispense with the requirement that the adoptive child appear for
examination or join in the petition, where otherwise required. In any
adoption proceeding where the judge or surrogate shall dispense with the
personal appearance of such adoptive parent, birth parent, person whose
consent is necessary to the adoption, or adoptive child, the reason
therefor must be for good cause shown, and shall be recited in the order
of adoption.

10. In all cases where the consents of the persons mentioned in
subdivision two, three and four of section one hundred eleven of this
article are not required or where the adoptive child is an adult notice
of such application shall be served upon such persons as the judge or
surrogate may direct.

11. The provisions of title two prohibiting the surname of the child
from appearing in the papers, prohibiting disclosure of the surname of
the child to the adoptive parents, and requiring a separate application
for issuance of a certified copy of an order of adoption prior to the
sealing of the papers, requiring the filing of a verified schedule,
shall not apply to private-placement adoptions; provided, however, that
the facts required to be stated in the verified schedule in an agency
adoption shall be set forth in the petition.

12. (a) If the child who is being adopted was placed or brought into
New York for the purpose of adoption from a state which is a party to
the interstate compact on the placement of children and the provisions
of the compact applied to such placements, the petition must contain a
statement that the provisions of section three hundred seventy-four-a of
the social services law were complied with and where applicable, that
the provisions of section three hundred eighty-two of such law were also
complied with.

(b) If the child who is being adopted was placed or brought into New
York for the purpose of adoption from a state which is not a party to
the interstate compact on the placement of children, the petition, where
applicable, must contain a statement that the provisions of section
three hundred eighty-two of the social services law were complied with.

13. If the placement of a child into the state of New York is subject
to the provisions of sections three hundred seventy-four-a and/or three
hundred eighty-two of the social services law, there shall be attached
to the petition a copy of the document signed by New York's
administrator of the interstate compact on the placement of children or
his designee which informs the agency or person who placed the child
into the state that such placement complied with the provisions of the
compact and/or a copy of the license which is issued pursuant to the
provisions of section three hundred eighty-two of the social services
law to the person, institution, corporation or agency which placed or
brought the child into this state.