Smith v. Consul General of Spain

The question reserved and transferred by the Superior Court (Morris, J.) without ruling is whether a probate court has authority to reopen a decree of adoption. The defendant (Maria) filed in the probate court for Rockingham County a petition to reopen the proceeding in which the probate court had decreed her son, Juan Carlos Gonzalez y Gonzalez, who was born out of wedlock in Madrid, Spain, to be the adopted son of the plaintiffs. The defendant requested the case be reopened in order to prove she had revoked her consent before the adoption decree on September 14, 1965 and, therefore, the…