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Ark. Code Ann. § 9-9-216

Appeal from and validation of adoption decree

Applied in 13 court decisions — leading case Matter of Adoption of Martindale (1997)

Most recently applied in 2026 Ark. App. 123 - In the Matter of the Adoption of Minor Children, Dustin Hill v. Kimberly and Daniel Cortez and Arkansas Department of Human Services (February 2026)

Acts 1977, No. 735, § 16; A.S.A. 1947, § 56-216.

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Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) An appeal from any final order or decree rendered under this subchapter may be taken in the manner and time provided for appeal from a judgment in a civil action.

(2) Subject to the disposition of an appeal, upon the expiration of one (1) year after an adoption decree is issued, the decree cannot be questioned by any person including the petitioner, in any manner upon any ground, including fraud, misrepresentation, failure to give any required notice, or lack of jurisdiction of the parties or of the subject matter unless, in the case of the adoption of a minor, the petitioner has not taken custody of the minor or, in the case of the adoption of an adult, the adult had no knowledge of the decree within the one-year period.

Current official text: Arkansas General Assembly. Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Arkansas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.