Law Lessons from R.C. VS. L.L., App. Div., A-3057-08T1, December 11, 2009:

The New Jersey Parentage Act of 1983 (the Act), N.J.S.A. 9:17-38 to -59, “was intended to establish the principle that regardless of the marital status of the parents, all children and parents have equal rights with respect to each other and to provide a procedure to establish parentage in disputed cases.” Id. at 94. To that end, the Act “provides the means for legally identifying the father by granting the ‘alleged’ father or ‘any person with an interest recognized as justiciable by the court’ standing to bring an action ‘for the purpose of determining the existence or nonexistence of the parent and child relationship.’” Id. at 94-95 (quoting N.J.S.A. 9:17-45a). A “child” alleging that a man is his or her father is among the persons who may invoke the Act to establish the parental relationship. N.J.S.A. 9:17-45a.

Regardless of the status claimed by the person seeking to establish parentage, “[n]o action shall be brought under [the Act] more than five years after the child attains the age of majority.” N.J.S.A. 9:17-45b. It is well-settled that N.J.S.A. 9:17-45b “establishes a ‘twenty-three-year statute of repose,’ commencing from the date of the child’s birth.” R.A.C. v. P.J.S., Jr., 192 N.J. 81, 95 (2007) (quoting Wingate v. Estate of Ryan, 149 N.J. 227, 233 (1997)).

“The primary consideration underlying a statute of repose is ‘fairness to a defendant,’ the belief that there comes a time when the defendant ‘ought to be secure in his reasonable expectation that the slate has been wiped clean of ancient obligations.’” Id. at 96-97 (quoting Rosenberg v. Town of N. Bergen, 61 N.J. 190, 201 (1972). Although the Supreme Court has concluded that principles of “equitable tolling” can be applied to the Act’s statute of repose, “in light of the purpose . . . , which is to set a fixed end to the limitations period,” the Court indicated its expectation that “equitable tolling will arise only in extraordinary circumstances consistent with legislative intent.” Id. at 100-01.

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