Comments on: What happens when ex appeals judges decision in family law case?

By: evilattorney

evilattorney — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:04:43 +0000

If he actually files an appeal, you will have to respond to his appeal brief. Be prepared to spend large amounts of money. evilattorney

By: LovesTheConstitution

LovesTheConstitution — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:36:42 +0000

Artemis Gwen is correct.

In general, the appellate court reviews the case to determine whether the trial court judge applied the law correctly. Appellate courts do not reverse trial court decisions unless there is an error in the lower court.

It is likely that the appellate court will take several months to render their decision.

If your ex had no substantial change in his circumstances between the divorce decree and the motion to modify the decree, my guess is that he is representing himself (”pro se”, Latin for “Oops! Forgot something very important, like understanding the law.”) or has an attorney who did not graduate in the top of his class. LovesTheConstitution

By: Artemis Gwen

Artemis Gwen — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:43:10 +0000

It depends on your state, but generally, he will file an appeal with the Court of Appeals. Depending on what and how he is appealing, the Court of Appeals will probably review what the judge did for “abuse of discretion.” Essentially, they are trying to determine if there was no reasonable basis for the judge to make the decision he made . . . this is generally pretty tough to do. There is another standard of review: de novo - which means the Court of Appeals looks at absolutely everything that was before the original judge.

You should not expect a quick decision. This is a VERY slow process. He will file his motion through his attorney. You will file your reply through your lawyer. Then he can file another written response. The Court can decide the case based on the paper work OR can schedule your case for oral arguments. The Court will issue a written decision - and THIS also takes a bit of time.

The last case I had that went through the appeals process involved a case that was decided by the lower court’s judge in January 2008. The other side appealed. I filed my reply brief in August 2008. They filed their final response in September. The decision was made in November 2008. (Then it got appealed to the state Supreme Court - so that literally took us through to June 2009 until the state S.C. denied the appeal.) Artemis Gwen

By: chris f

chris f — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:35:28 +0000

i cant relly say but unless he can show he has made a major change or has a vilid reason like lost his job or is sick or somethng big i relly dont think you have much to worry about but dont take my word for it that would be putting all of you eggs in one basket chris f