Can You Appeal Your Divorce Case

The answer is yes, but you must be able to prove that the family law judge actually erred when making final conclusions about your divorce.  If the judge based his or her decisions on information based facts  that were presented during the divorce trial, than it’s unlikely that an appeal questioning the final orders by the judge will hold water.

So often an appeal is made due to the division of marital assets – a spouse feels he or should have a larger portion of the pie – usually in the end the judge after careful deliberation divided the assets in a fair and unbiased manner.  Remember each State has a formula for figuring child support and a tentative guideline regarding alimony, child custody and division of marital assets.

There are many variables to consider and no doubt family law judges are in error some of the time, but before having your attorney appeal the judge’s decision read your family laws and be sure that you actually have a valid reason to appeal the decision.

 

If one spouse has been the primary caregiver, stayed at home to raise the children, helped the other spouse start a business or helped them through college it’s pretty much a given that the judge will take all of this into consideration.

Usually child custody is decided in the “best interest “of the children and the family law judge definitely wants to make decisions that will benefit the children.  True, you may have a  high powered job and make a better than average salary, but that doesn’t mean you’re the best choice to take care of the children.

If the judge had hard evidence or factual evidence during the trial, he or she based the final decisions upon the evidence presented.  The appellate court which will address your appeal isn’t going to listen to new testimony or question witnesses. Their job is to verify if the divorce judge actually  made an error when handing down his/her final decision.

Normally the appellate process is long and drawn out taking several years when making a decision over child custody – be prepared to pay a lot of money in attorney fees without any guarantees that you will win the appeal.

Even if you have legal counsel study the family laws in your State – find out how child custody, child support, alimony and division of marital assets are determined.  If you want a big hunk of a retirement fund, or sole custody of the children or a large alimony payment than be prepared to show the family law judge factual information that proves beyond a doubt that you warrant a big piece of the pie.

Many states are changing the alimony laws, which are old relics and need to be updated – alimony for a lifetime is being removed from family law in many States.  Often times fathers are getting the tip of the hat when it comes to child custody.  Times have changed and the recession changes the information that the divorce judge will receive.  Many are without jobs or receiving unemployment, food stamps or some type of Government assistance and they don’t have any pie to share with anyone.

Divorce in 2013 may prove to be extremely difficult when both parents are without a job or have lost their homes and vehicles. 

www.caseboss.com

As Always,

Little Tboca