§ 14-15-14 — Effect of petition and decree of adoption

1. A final decree of adoption and an interlocutory decree of adoption which has become
final, whether issued by a court of this state or of any other place, have the following
effect as to matters within the jurisdiction or before a court of this state:
a. Except with respect to a spouse of the petitioner and relatives of the spouse, to
relieve the biological parents of the adopted individual of all parental rights and
responsibilities, and to terminate all legal relationships between the adopted
individual and the individual's relatives, including the individual's biological
parents, so that the adopted individual thereafter is a stranger to the individual's
former relatives for all purposes, including inheritance and the interpretation or
construction of documents, statutes, and instruments, whether executed before or
after the adoption is decreed, that do not expressly include the individual by name
or by some designation not based on a parent and child or blood relationship; and
b. To create the relationship of parent and child between petitioner and the adopted
individual, as if the adopted individual were a legitimate blood descendant of the
petitioner, for all purposes, including inheritance and applicability of statutes,
documents, and instruments, whether executed before or after the adoption is
decreed, which do not expressly exclude an adopted individual from their
operation or effect.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1, if a parent of a child dies without the
relationship of parent and child having been previously terminated and a spouse of the
living parent thereafter adopts the child, the child's right of inheritance from or through
the deceased parent is unaffected by the adoption.
3. An interlocutory decree of adoption, while it is in force, has the same legal effect as a
final decree of adoption. If an interlocutory decree of adoption is vacated, it must be as
though void from its issuance, and the rights, liabilities, and status of all affected
individuals which have not become vested must be governed accordingly.