All proceedings had in any case, under the provisions of § 8.01-394, wherein a final judgment or decree has stood unimpeached for more than twenty years are declared to be valid and binding in all respects.
§ 8.01-395.Validating certain proceedings under § 8.01-394.
Chapter 14. Evidence · Article 3. Establishing Lost Records, Etc · Last amended 1977 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceThis section declares valid and binding, in all respects, every § 8.01-394 proceeding to establish the contents of a lost record in which the resulting final judgment or decree has gone unchallenged for more than twenty years.
Full Text of § 8.01-395
Plain-English Summary
A proceeding to prove up the contents of a lost record under Section 8.01-394 produces a judgment or decree that people are supposed to be able to rely on. Section 8.01-395 backstops that reliability with a statute of repose. Once a final judgment or decree from a § 8.01-394 proceeding has stood unimpeached for more than twenty years, the section declares it valid and binding in all respects.
The effect is to close the door on old challenges. Even if some technical defect existed in how a decades-old § 8.01-394 proceeding was conducted, the passage of more than twenty years without anyone successfully attacking the resulting judgment turns that judgment into settled law for the case. Titles, boundaries, and other rights that depended on the reconstructed record stay secure rather than remaining permanently open to a belated attack on the original reconstruction proceeding.
The section is narrow by design — it only reaches proceedings conducted under § 8.01-394 specifically, and only after the twenty-year mark has passed with the judgment or decree left unimpeached the whole time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of proceedings does this section validate?
All proceedings had in any case under the provisions of § 8.01-394, where a final judgment or decree has stood unimpeached for more than twenty years.
How long must a § 8.01-394 judgment or decree stand unimpeached before this section applies?
More than twenty years.
What effect does this section give to such long-standing judgments or decrees?
They are declared to be valid and binding in all respects.
Does this section apply to proceedings under any lost-record statute, or just one?
The text limits it to proceedings had under the provisions of § 8.01-394.
What happens if a § 8.01-394 judgment was successfully challenged before the twenty years passed?
The section’s validating effect applies to judgments that have stood unimpeached for more than twenty years; the text does not extend that validation to a judgment that was impeached within that period.
Amendment History
Code 1950, § 8-284; 1977, c. 617.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
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