How do I file for custody in New York?

What the petition asks

GF-17, Petition (Custody, Visitation), revision 1/2026, asks for each child’s details and current address, both parties’ addresses and relationship to the child, where the child lived in the prior two years if the child moved recently, how paternity is established, any other custody cases or agreements, any orders of protection, and why it would be in the child’s best interests for you to have custody or visitation.

The petition ends with a verification that you sign, affirming under the penalties of perjury that the statements are true to your own knowledge, except those stated on information and belief.

After you file

The clerk assigns a docket number and prints a summons with your court date. The summons and petition must be served on the other side. In some counties the court serves them; in others you arrange service. Either way, the court system says you may not deliver the papers yourself.

If both sides agree on custody, the judge can enter an order on consent without a hearing. If not, the judge holds a hearing and decides based on the best interests of the child.

When GF-17 is the wrong form

A note on GF-17 says to use GF-40 to modify or GF-41 to enforce an existing New York custody or visitation order, and the UCCJEA forms if a custody case is pending in, or an order was made by, a court outside New York.