S. M. v. S. J.

Griffin, J. S. C.

Absent a showing that the natural parent is unfit, or has abandoned the child, does the court have the right to award custody of a child to a stranger when it is in the child’s best interests?

There does not seem to be any case in New Jersey squarely answering this question. Other states are divided. See 59 Am. Jur. 2d, Parent & Child, § 25 at 110.

*382The facts are as follows. S.D., a girl, was born out of wedlock. Shortly after her birth her mother married a man who is not the putative father. They and the two children of the marriage lived together for over seven years. Upon…