On July 1, 2026, the Second Department issued a decision in Wellpath Holdings, Inc. v. XL Ins. Am., Inc., 2026 NY Slip Op. 04229, holding that when there are no questions of fact, a court should issue a declaration when dismissing a cause of action for a declaratory judgment, explaining:
A motion to dismiss a declaratory judgment action prior to the service of an answer presents for consideration only the issue of whether a cause of action for declaratory relief is set forth, not the question of whether the plaintiff is entitled to a favorable declaration. Upon a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action, a court may reach the merits of a properly pleaded cause of action for a declaratory judgment where no questions of fact are presented by the controversy. Under such circumstances, the motion to dismiss the cause of action for failure to state a cause of action should be treated as one seeking a declaration in the defendant’s favor and treated accordingly.
Here, since no questions of fact were presented by the third cause of action, for declaratory relief, and the defendants demonstrated, as a matter of law, that the plaintiff was not entitled to a favorable declaration, the Supreme Court should have deemed those branches of the defendants’ separate motions which were to dismiss the third cause of action insofar as asserted against each of them to be for a declaratory judgment in each of the defendants’ favor, and thereupon granted those branches of the separate motions.tes do not signify endorsement or relationship with them.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).