Subtitle: A decade-long campaign by a Long Island mother has produced a bill that could change how every contested New York custody case begins.
Kyra’s Law has passed both houses of the New York Legislature and is now before Governor Kathy Hochul. If she signs it, the bill will change the very first question a family court judge has to answer in a custody or visitation case: not “what parenting schedule works,” but “is this child safe.” Here is what the bill actually does, where it stands right now, and what it could mean if you are in the middle of a custody dispute.
Who Was Kyra, and Why Does This Bill Carry Her Name?
The bill is named for Kyra Franchetti, a two-year-old Long Island girl who was killed by her father in 2016 during a court-ordered, unsupervised visitation, despite her mother’s repeated warnings about his behavior. Her mother, Jacqueline Franchetti, spent the following decade pushing the New York Legislature to change how courts weigh abuse allegations in custody cases. That effort became Assembly Bill A6194, with a companion Senate Bill S5998, both introduced in the 2025–2026 legislative session.
Where Kyra’s Law Stands Right Now
Kyra’s Law passed the Assembly and Senate on June 5, 2026, and was delivered to Governor Hochul’s desk on June 15, 2026. As of this writing, she has not yet signed or vetoed it. Under New York’s constitutional process for bills delivered outside an active session, the Governor generally has until the end of the year to act. Families should understand: Kyra’s Law is not yet the law in New York as of the publication of this article. The custody standards described below reflect what would change if the Governor signs the bill, not what applies to cases filed today.
What Kyra’s Law Would Actually Require
Contrary to some of the more alarmist headlines, Kyra’s Law does not create a new custody standard out of thin air — it adds a mandatory, threshold safety check before a judge gets to the rest of the custody analysis. Specifically, before issuing any temporary or final order of custody or visitation, a New York family or supreme court judge would have to:
- Review the record for allegations of domestic violence, child abuse, or other conduct posing a substantial risk of harm to the child;
- Consider specific enumerated risk factors, including threats to kill or harm, stalking, violence during pregnancy, unlawful dissemination of intimate images, and a recent pattern of substance abuse; and
- Address those safety findings before — or alongside — the traditional “best interests of the child” factors that already govern New York custody decisions.
In practice, this means a parent’s documented history of abuse or violence cannot be treated as just one factor buried among many. It has to be confronted directly, on the record, before a judge signs off on an unsupervised access schedule. Kyra’s Law would amend New York’s existing best-interests custody framework under Domestic Relations Law § 240, which already directs courts to consider proven domestic violence but currently treats it as one factor among several rather than a threshold question.
Why This Bill Is Controversial
Supporters, including domestic violence advocates and the bill’s legislative sponsors, argue that New York custody courts have historically been too quick to award unsupervised access to a parent with a documented abuse history, out of a preference for “co-parenting” and a skepticism toward abuse allegations raised during contested divorces. Critics — including some family law practitioners — have raised concerns about how “credible allegation” will be defined in practice, and whether the bill could be used strategically by a parent looking to limit the other parent’s access during litigation. Both concerns are worth taking seriously, and both are exactly the kind of issue a family law attorney should walk you through if you are currently in a custody case involving abuse allegations on either side.
What This Means If You Are in a Custody Case Right Now
If your case involves any history of domestic violence, an order of protection, a CPS investigation, or allegations of abuse, Kyra’s Law — if signed — would apply to your case going forward from its effective date (270 days after signing, under the bill’s current text). That means:
- If you have safety concerns about your co-parent, documenting them now — police reports, medical records, texts, CPS case numbers — will matter more, not less, once this law takes effect.
- If you are facing allegations you believe are exaggerated or fabricated for leverage in a divorce, you should expect the court to scrutinize them more closely under the new framework, which cuts both ways.
- Existing final custody orders are not automatically reopened by a new law; you would generally need a modification proceeding to raise Kyra’s Law in a case that has already been decided.
How This Fits With Other Recent New York Safety Reforms
Kyra’s Law would join a string of recent New York reforms aimed at family court safety, including Melanie’s Law, which broadened who can seek an order of protection in Family Court, and the state’s move to require identified (non-anonymous) reporters for child abuse hotline calls. Together, these changes reflect a legislature that has spent the last two years recalibrating how New York courts balance parental access against documented safety risk.
Talk to a New York Custody Attorney
Whether Kyra’s Law is signed, vetoed, or amended, the underlying issue it addresses — how New York courts weigh abuse allegations in custody and visitation decisions — is already central to how contested custody cases are litigated today. If you have safety concerns about your child’s other parent, or you are facing allegations you need to respond to, do not wait for legislation to change before getting advice specific to your case.
At Most & Schneid, P.C., we represent parents throughout Westchester and Nassau County in contested custody matters involving domestic violence and abuse allegations. Call us at (914) 997-9181 or request a consultation online.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911. For confidential support, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233.
Learn more about our child custody representation, or read our related article on New York’s law ending anonymous child abuse hotline calls.
Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. It reflects the status of pending legislation as of the publication date.