No judgment heretofore or hereafter rendered in any action against unknown heirs or devisees of a deceased person shall ever be construed, or held to be, either void or voidable upon the ground that an affidavit of the plaintiff to the effect that the name of such heirs or devisees, or any of them, and their residences, are unknown to the plaintiff, was not annexed to his petition; and all such judgments, if not otherwise void, are hereby declared to be valid and binding from the date of rendition. No judgment heretofore or hereafter rendered in any action against any person or party served by publication shall be construed or held to be void or voidable because the affidavit for such service by publication was made by the attorney for the plaintiff or because the petition or other pleading was verified by the attorney for the plaintiff or party seeking such service by publication. In all such cases it shall be conclusively presumed, if otherwise sufficient, that the allegations and statements made by such attorney were and are in legal effect and for all purposes made by plaintiff and shall have the same force and effect as if actually made by the plaintiff. All such judgments, if not otherwise defective or void, are hereby declared valid and legally effective and conclusive as of the date thereof as if such affidavit was made or the petition or pleading was verified by the plaintiff or other party obtaining such service by publication. Provided further, that nothing in this act shall be construed to affect any litigation now pending in any courts of the State of Oklahoma on the effective date of this act.
§ 177.1.Judgment Against Unknown Heirs Or Devisees - Judgment Against Party Served By Publication
Chapter 6: Commencement of Actions · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified August 3, 2026
In one sentenceSection 177.1 declares valid all past and future judgments against unknown heirs or devisees despite a missing affidavit of unknown residences, and validates publication-service judgments even when the plaintiff's attorney, rather than the plaintiff, made the affidavit or verification.
Full Text of § 177.1
Amendment History
Laws 1947, HB 34, p. 79, § 3; Amended by Laws 1957, SB 180, p. 80, § 1.
Plain-English Summary
Like Section 171.1, this is a curative statute aimed at old judgments that might otherwise be vulnerable to a technical attack. It covers two situations. First, a judgment against unknown heirs or devisees of a deceased person isn't void or voidable just because the plaintiff never attached an affidavit stating that their names and residences were unknown. Second, a judgment against a person served by publication isn't void or voidable just because the attorney, rather than the plaintiff personally, made the affidavit for publication service or verified the petition.
In that second situation the statute goes further: it conclusively presumes that whatever the attorney swore to was, in legal effect, made by the plaintiff. Both categories of judgment stand as if the affidavit or verification had been made by the plaintiff directly. As with Section 171.1, the statute doesn't touch litigation that was already pending when it took effect, and Section 177.2 sets a six-month deadline for challenging a judgment this section validates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a judgment against unknown heirs be voided in Oklahoma because no affidavit about their unknown residences was filed?
No. Section 177.1 declares such judgments valid and binding regardless of that missing affidavit.
Does it matter whether the plaintiff's lawyer, instead of the plaintiff, made the publication-service affidavit?
No. The statute validates the judgment either way and conclusively treats the attorney's statements as if the plaintiff had made them.
Is there a deadline to challenge a judgment validated under Section 177.1?
Yes. Section 177.2, part of the same 1957 act, requires any suit to vacate or reopen such a judgment to be filed within six months of that act's effective date.
Does this section cure every defect in an old judgment against unknown heirs?
No. It only addresses the two specific defects the text describes; a judgment that's otherwise void isn't cured by this section.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes, enacted by the Oklahoma Legislature.
Last verified August 3, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: oklahoma judgment unknown heirs deviseesservice by publication attorney affidavit oklahomacurative statute publication service oklahoma