General Instructions for Filing of Petitions

1. You must fill in all blanks. Type or write clearly in black ink.

2. Answer each question to the best of your ability. Incomplete petitions may be dismissed by the Court.

3. You must provide a current address for each party, including house number, street, city, state and zip code.

4. If you are filing a petition, you are the Petitioner on the form and the other party is the Respondent.

5. If modifying or enforcing an Order of Another Court, such as a Divorce Decree, a copy of the divorce and separation agreement must be attached to the petition.

6. Petitions must be signed in the presence of a Notary Public or a Family Court Clerk. The Family Court Clerk will require picture identification.

7. If you do not file a Petition in person at the Family Court reception window, you must submit an original and six copies of the petition to the Court. Mail completed forms to: Tompkins County Family Court, 320 N. Tioga Street, P.O. Box 70, Ithaca, NY 14851.

8. Paternity Petitions must be submitted with a copy of the Birth Certificate.

Local Forms & Instructions

• Custody/Visitation Petition
• Order to Show Cause
• Support Petition
• Objections to a Support Order

Unified Court Forms*

*This link connects you to the Unified Court System Family Court Official Forms Master Index. From there you can view and download the forms in either WordPerfect 6.1 format or Adobe Acrobat Reader (.pdf file) format.

Categories of forms on the Master Index include:

• General forms
• Family Offense Petition forms
• Guardianship and Termination of
• Parental Rights forms
• Paternity forms
• Support forms
• Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) forms