S.J. ex rel. M.W. v. W.L.

While I concur in the affirmance, I find it necessary to comment about this issue of standing. In my judgment, standing in an in rem action (such as adoption) is not quite the same thing as it is in an in personam proceeding where the party seeking to intervene must line up on one side or the other. In this kind of in rem case, there might not be clearly defined “sides” because there may be no true adversary to the principal issue to be decided as regards the res. In the case in point, although the siblings may not be heard to *757object to the adoption itself, they do present an entirely…