Shemley v. Montezuma

Melvin Mayfield, Judge.

Appellants appeal from a probate court’s denial of their petition to adopt their granddaughter. Jim Montezuma, the girl’s natural father, cross-appeals from a chancery court’s refusal to give him custody of the child. Both matters were heard by the same judge who consolidated the chancery and probate cases for hearing and entered the same order in both cases. This procedure was followed in McKee v. Bates, 10 Ark. App. 51, 661 S.W.2d 415 (1983) and Lindsey v. Ketchum, 10 Ark. App. 128, 661 S.W.2d 453 (1983), and avoids any jurisdictional problem. Cf. Poe v. Case, 263…