Appealing A Family Court Decision

Grounds For Appeal In Family Court

How Often Are Custody Appeals Won In TX

You can appeal any family law decision just like you would any case. In a divorce, you may seek to appeal a decision on child support or to get clarity on a vague word or ambiguous statement included in the divorce decree.  However, you need to prove that there was an abuse of discretion by the court that decided your case.

Before you decide to appeal, talk to an experienced divorce law firm for advice and additional information regarding appealing a family court decision in the state of Texas.

Should You Appeal The Court’s Decision

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Appealing A Family Court DecisionSince the burden of proof is on the person filing the appeal, it is often very difficult to overturn a court’s decision.  You only have 30 days after the divorce decree or judgment is issued to file a notice of appeal. This notice informs the trial court that you are going to file an appeal.

Remember that appeals take a long time to finalize. That means that you only appeal if you have to.  You will have to prepare a brief explaining why you are appealing and also attach evidence and other documents to your appeal. If the ground for appealing is a court abusing its discretion, the appellate court will decide whether the trial court judge got it wrong.

You can also appeal if the judge’s decision was based on false evidence or the decision was a deviation from the law. The appeals court’s role is not to retry the divorce case but review the evidence presented to the trial court and decide whether there are any errors.

 Other Ways To Get A Divorce

Family Law Lawyer Houston

Appealing a family law court decision is not only time-consuming but also expensive.  The only way to avoid ever having to file an appeal is to explore other alternatives to divorce court.  The following are other methods to get a divorce:

  • Collaborative divorce: This option is designed to make divorce more amicable with the couples working closely with their divorce lawyers to resolve issues without going to court. Couples have to put aside their differences so that they can work together.
  • Mediation: A neutral mediator is brought in to try and help couples that do not want to cooperate to reach an agreement about child support, child custody, and more.  Each party except the mediator has their divorce lawyer sitting with them during negotiations.
  • Arbitration:  Parties that have a difficult relationship but want to avoid going to court can benefit from arbitration.  The arbitrator acts as a judge and both parties present their case before the arbitrator.

All these alternatives are cheaper and take a shorter time to finalize the divorce compared to the courts.  But if your divorce is contentious to a point where resolving issues is impossible then the best option is to get a lawyer to help take your divorce case to trial and also answer other common questions affecting your situation such as child custody laws.

Why You Need A Lawyer

Appeal Family Court Decision In Texas

An experienced divorce lawyer can help you better understand all your options when you are in the process of getting a divorce. The lawyer can review your case and advise you on whether filing an appeal after a divorce decree is issued is the right thing to do or not.

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