New Jersey Statutes 9:2-13. Definitions
Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 9:2-13
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
- State: extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
(a) The phrase “approved agency” means a legally constituted agency having its principal office within or without this State, which has been approved, pursuant to law, to place children in New Jersey for purposes of adoption.
(b) The word “child” means any person under 18 years of age.
(c) The word “custody” means continuing control and authority over the person of a child, established by natural parenthood, by order or judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, or by written surrender to and approved agency pursuant to law.
(d) The phrase “forsaken parental obligations” means willful and continuous neglect or failure to perform the natural and regular obligations of care and support of a child.
(e) The phrase “mentally incapacitated” means the inability to understand and discharge the natural and regular obligations of care and support of a child by reason of having a mental health condition, an intellectual disability, or a substance use disorder.
(f) The word “parent,” when not otherwise described by the context, means a natural parent or parent by previous adoption.
(g) The word “may” shall be construed to be permissive and the word “shall” shall be construed to be mandatory.
L.1955, c.232, s.1; amended 1990, c.26, s.3; 2013, c.103, s.54; 2023, c.177, s.17.