S.B. v. A.C.C.

OPINION OF THE COURT

Abdtjs-Salaam, J.

These two cases call upon us to assess the continued vitality of the rule promulgated in Matter of Alison D. v Virginia M. (77 NY2d 651 [1991])—namely that, in an unmarried couple, a partner without a biological or adoptive relation to a child is not that child’s “parent” for purposes of standing to seek custody or visitation under Domestic Relations Law § 70 (a), notwithstanding their “established relationship with the child” *14(77 NY2d at 655). Petitioners in these cases, who similarly lack any biological or adoptive connection to the subject children,…