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Under New Jersey law, any final judgment, including a judgment of adoption, may be challenged as long as such a motion is made within a reasonable period of time yet not more than one year after entry of judgment in cases of (a) mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect, (b) newly discovered evidence and (c) fraud, misrepresentation or other misconduct of an adverse party. R. 4:50-1, -2. Such a motion is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court, whose resolution of the motion will not be disturbed on appeal unless it results from a clear abuse of discretion. Hodgson v. Applegate, 31 N.J. 29, 37, 155 A.2d 97 (1959). The judgment of adoption, like any other judgment or order of court, can be amended, modified, or vacated in the interest of justice. Indeed, 'this court has jurisdiction to entertain a motion [to vacate final judgment of adoption] and is cognizant of its power to control, vacate, or correct its own judgments'. In re Adoption of Baby T, 308 N.J. Super. 344, 349, 705 A.2d 1279 (Ch.Div.1987), rev'd on other grounds, 311 N.J. Super. 408, 709 A.2d 1381 (App.Div.1988). While the court cannot ignore the ...
