## Facts

- M. was born in 1975 and was voluntarily surrendered by her natural parents to the state child-welfare agency in 1989.
- In January 1991, the court entered a final, uncontested judgment of adoption placing M. (then age 15) with the adoptive mother and adoptive father.
- About six and a half years later, the adoptive parents divorced.
- As an adult (age 22), M. gave birth to a son; the adoptive father acknowledged he was the child’s biological father.
- New Jersey law barred marriage between a person and an adoptive parent while the parent–child relationship remained legally intact, preventing M. and the adoptive father from marrying.
- M. filed a post-judgment motion in the adoption matter to vacate the adoption judgment only as to the adoptive father, seeking to remove the marriage impediment.
- The adoptive mother did not oppose the request and wished to preserve her adoptive relationship with M.

## Issues

1. Under what circumstances may a New Jersey court vacate a final judgment of adoption, and did the circumstances here meet the “truly exceptional” threshold?
2. Whether vacating the adoption judgment only as to the adoptive father was consistent with the best-interests standard and adoption policy where the adoptee was emancipated, and the asserted equities centered on the newborn child.

## Decision

- The court granted M.’s motion.
- The final judgment of adoption was vacated as to the adoptive father only, terminating the legal parent–child relationship between M. and the adoptive father.
- The adoption judgment remained in effect as to the adoptive mother.
- The order removed the statutory impediment to marriage between M. and the former adoptive father.

## Legal Principles

- Judgments of adoption are intended to be permanent and are not to be disturbed absent truly exceptional circumstances.
- A court retains limited equitable authority to grant post-judgment relief from an adoption decree when necessary to avoid substantial injustice and when consistent with adoption policy.
- In evaluating extraordinary post-adoption relief involving an emancipated adoptee, the court may give primary weight to the welfare and legal status of a child affected by the existing legal relationships.
- Relief may be tailored narrowly (e.g., vacating as to one adoptive parent) when the equities and requested outcome support a partial modification rather than total dissolution of the adoption.

## Conclusion

The court exercised narrow equitable authority to set aside an otherwise final adoption judgment only as to the adoptive father, finding exceptional circumstances and concluding that permitting the parties to marry served the welfare and social/legal status of the newborn child while preserving the adoptee’s legal relationship with the adoptive mother.


In re Adoption of M., 317 N.J. Super. 531, 722 A.2d 615 (Ch. Div. 1998)