Rule 5:10-12. Judgment of Adoption

(a) Judgment A separate judgment of adoption shall be entered for each adoptee.

(b) Filing An original and copy of the judgment shall be filed with the court.

(c) Costs If costs are allowed by the court to an approved agency, they shall be included in the judgment. (d) Certified Copies. Prior to sealing the record of the proceedings the clerk shall, upon payment of the appropriate fee, provide the plaintiff, the plaintiff's attorney, the Clerk of the Superior Court, and the approved agency which made the adoptive placement with certified copies of the judgment. (e) Report of Adoption. Upon receipt of a check payable to the Treasurer of the State of New Jersey, the Surrogate shall submit the report of adoption along with the certified judgment of adoption to the Bureau of Vital Statistics and Registration if the child was born in New Jersey or if the adoption is a foreign readoption. (f) Sealing of Adoption Records. All records of proceedings related to adoption, including the complaint, judgment and all petitions, affidavits, testimony, reports, briefs, orders and other relevant documents, shall be filed under seal by the clerk of the court and shall at no time be open to inspection or copying unless the court, upon good cause shown, shall otherwise order. An index of all adoption proceedings shall be maintained by the clerk of the court, but no index of adoption proceedings shall be open to inspection or copying or be made public except by order of the court. (g) Closing of Child Placement Case (FC docket). When an adoption case is sealed and there is a related child placement case (FC docket), the child placement case shall be closed to reflect the adoption, but only when the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) provides the court with a Notice of Change. If the adoption occurs out of state, DYFS shall provide the court with both the judgment of adoption and the Notice of Change in order to close the child placement case. These documents shall be provided to the court presiding over the child placement case no later than 30 days after the adoption judgment is entered.