Is Coercive Control Recognized in New York?
Reviewed by Jacob Reed, founder of Verity ·
Short answer
Not as a law of its own, as of November 3, 2026. A bill to make coercive control a crime (S4079) and one to add it to the family offenses Family Court can act on (S8633A) are still in Senate committees. Kyra's Law (S5998C), which would require a prompt hearing on abuse claims in custody cases, passed both houses but has not been signed. What New York courts act on today: the family offenses in Family Court Act § 812, such as harassment, stalking, menacing and coercion, and, in custody cases, proven domestic violence, which Domestic Relations Law § 240 says the court must consider.
That leaves New York parents in an in-between place: the pattern isn't named in the law yet, but much of what makes it up already is.
The bills, and where they stand
- S4079 would add a coercive-control crime to the Penal Law (a new § 135.80). On November 3, 2026 it was in the Senate Codes Committee.
- S8633A would set one definition of coercive control in the Family Court Act and add it to the family offenses for which Family Court can issue orders of protection. It was in the Senate Children and Families Committee.
- Kyra's Law, S5998C, would amend Domestic Relations Law § 240 so that courts hold a prompt evidentiary hearing when a party in a custody or visitation case raises abuse. The Senate lists it as passed by the Senate and Assembly; it had not been signed.
Bills change status often; each one is linked below so you can check it today.
What courts can act on now
Family offenses. Family Court Act § 812 lets Family Court and the criminal courts hear acts such as disorderly conduct, harassment, aggravated harassment in the second degree, stalking, menacing, coercion in the second or third degree, identity theft and assault, between family or household members. That includes people who have a child together and people who are or were in an intimate relationship, whether or not they lived together. Many of these are proven partly through messages.
Custody. Under Domestic Relations Law § 240, when a party alleges domestic violence in a sworn pleading and proves it by a preponderance of the evidence, the court must consider its effect on the child's best interests and state on the record how it factored in.
Where text messages fit
Coercive control is a pattern: threats, monitoring, isolation, controlling money, punishing contact with others. No single text shows it; a dated record of many does. The same record supports the offenses that do exist today, such as repeated harassing messages or threats. See proving coercive control with texts, proving harassment with texts and texts for an order of protection.
Verity reads an exported conversation in your browser, without uploading it, numbers every message in date order and flags patterns such as threats, monitoring language, isolation and floods of messages, each with its date, for you and your lawyer to check.
Other states
Several states have passed coercive-control laws; the main coercive-control guide links each state page, including New Jersey and Connecticut.
New York pages cited
Read on nysenate.gov on November 3, 2026. Check each bill's current status before relying on it.
- Senate Bill S4079 (coercive control crime)
- Senate Bill S8633A (coercive control as a family offense)
- Senate Bill S5998C (Kyra’s Law)
- Family Court Act § 812
- Domestic Relations Law § 240
This is general information, not legal advice. Talk to a New York family lawyer about your case. If you are in danger, call 911; the New York State Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline is 1-800-942-6906, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.
See the pattern in your own messages
Try the sample first, or drop in your export. It is read in your browser and is not uploaded.