Can I Appeal Family Law Cases If I’m Unhappy

What should someone do if they disagree with the outcome and there is a good reason to appeal? Is there a specific period of time that matters? Should you hold off for a specific period of time? There are limitations on time. The claim of appeal must be filed within a certain amount of time. You only have a brief window of time to inform the relevant court that you are appealing. You have to make up your mind about doing an appeal against court rulings. Can I appeal my family law cases in Michigan court if I’m unhappy?

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If you intend to appeal, you should speak with your experienced family law attorney in Michigan as soon as possible. Your attorney will have a very little window of time to submit your appeal claim. Following the filing of the appeal claim, there are specific dates to be aware of. The lower court proceedings’ transcript is required by the court. The Court of Appeal or COA will have to examine the transcripts and be aware of what transpired. The transcript will need to be ordered by your attorney. Your attorney must certify to the court that the transcript was in fact requested. Your attorney has just a few days to put together the brief after receiving the transcript. It’s possible that the transcript came from proceedings that took months to wrap up. Your transcript can be lengthy. It will take a while to put the transcripts together. Perhaps your brief will have to wait. There will also be an opportunity for the opposing party to reply to your attorney’s brief.

Is an appeal possible in your family law cases?

You should decide if the Court of Appeals is the appropriate court for the appeal. Decide also what kind of appeal to file before submitting it. Staff from the Court of Appeals are not authorized to give you legal counsel or to assist in making your choice. Only a few categories of cases fall under the legal power of the Court of Appeals to take action. The COA has jurisdiction from the Michigan Constitution and the Michigan Court Rules. It is much like the Michigan Supreme Court.

Limits to COA jurisdiction

There are restrictions on the COA’s jurisdiction. Its ability to examine decisions made by state agencies and tribunals. as well as those made by circuit and probate courts in general. The COA cannot hear your appeal if:

  • You do not file it within the deadline specified by the court rule or statute.
  • You submit a claim of appeal yet do not have an appeal of right. 
  • You submit one from an order that should be appealed to the circuit court.

The two types of appeals

We’re dropping the word appeal a bit too often here. You might be thinking by now that we’re referring to one type of appeal. There are two types of appeal. We have the claim of appeal and a request for leave to appeal. Each invoked differently.

  • Claim of appeal. You may file an appeal claim if the law permits you to contest the order. If you follow the requirements, the COA must accept your appeal when it is submitted as of right. To file an appeal as of right, the necessary papers must be submitted with the claim. The appellant is required to put these components together. It is not necessary for the appellant to submit a brief immediately away. The COA will decide on the appeal claim. This is presuming that the necessary actions are taken. The COA will describe its conclusion as an “opinion.”
  • Application for Leave to Appeal. Explain in your brief why you believe the COA should hear your matter. As well as why you believe the COA should be found in your favor, you should clarify the legal issues at stake in your case. You must submit your brief to the COA after you have finished writing it. You can do this via mail or online. If the COA grants your request for leave to appeal, it will take some time. The COA’s decision-making process has no predetermined time limit. You will receive formal notification of the COA’s choice. Your appeal will continue in the same manner as if you had the right to do so from the outset if the COA allows your request. If the COA denies your request, you will not be able to appeal the decision.

Final order

Submit either an appeal claim or an appeal leave application. Check the type of order you wish to appeal first, though. Verify first if the tribunal or court has officially approved the order. After hearing the facts, the judge will make a decision and promise to issue an order later. The appeal must be backed by a judgment that was rendered and documented prior to the appeal’s submission. Wait until the judge has approved the order you want to challenge before filing an appeal. An appeal will be denied if it is submitted before a written order has been approved. It will be dismissed since it was filed prematurely.

The COA must have jurisdiction to hear your appeal. If not, the appeal will be dismissed by the court. The appeal could be dismissed at any point. Dismissal typically occurs soon after the appeal is submitted. It is the appellant’s responsibility to determine whether the appeal falls under the COA’s purview.

Even if it’s possible, would you want to appeal family law cases?

Filing the appeal is the start of what can be a drawn-out, costly, and challenging process. COA dismisses appeals very often. COA is known to deny appeals right away. It is the reason why many cases are entered as resolved at early stages. Even after a long and arduous process, the conclusion will not go your way. Most often the decision of the trial court is upheld in the appeal’s conclusion. This is true for the majority of cases progressing through the preliminary stages. When evaluating if filing an appeal is the best course of action for you, take into account the following. 

The cost of an appeal

The cost of an appeal can be so expensive. There is no consoling path when it comes to expenses. You have to pay for entry fee, motion fee, trial court fee, and transcript costs. The COA will be asking for a transcript of every hearing in your case. Most often there is more than one or two hearing in every case. Transcripts for a single hearing can set you off two hundred to five hundred dollars. We have not counted your lawyer’s fee yet.

The amount of work involved

You might get the chance to speak in front of the judge in the trial court. You’ll be presenting reasons and defending your position. You might have also been permitted to offer proof. Name your witnesses. An appeal is different. You exchange written messages with the COA. A “brief” is a written account of the facts that must be submitted as part of your case. It clarifies why you believe the trial court erred and the case’s decision was incorrect. A brief must have specific elements and adhere to a specific format to be accepted by the Court.

Odds of a favorable outcome

You should be aware that the majority of appeals do not affect the trial court’s decision. Many appeals are rejected on procedural grounds without the COA taking the issues into account. Even the issue the appellant wished to raise was irrelevant. Even when all procedural conditions are satisfied, dismissal can still happen. Most appeals do not result in the trial court’s ruling being changed, even if the COA takes the issues into consideration. The chances are not in your favor if you handle the appeal yourself. The chances are even higher in an appeal filed by a non-represented party. According to statistics from the COA, in cases where the appellant was not assisted by counsel,

  • More than half of right-of-return appeals are rejected due to procedural errors.
  • Over 90% of requests for leave to appeal are turned down.

The fees paid cannot be reimbursed in the event that an appeal is rejected or dismissed.

The alternatives to appeal

There might be more appealing alternatives. It’s demoralizing to realize that your expectations for the outcome were different. Consider engaging in negotiations with your ex-spouse. Modifying parenting time is a less complicated answer to a custody battle in a custody dispute. Parenting time can lessen the need to challenge a referee’s ruling. Always take into account parenting time for the parent who was not given custody. One option for an appeal is to file for parenting time modification. Make sure to consult your Michigan child custody lawyer to help and assist you throughout the process.

We’re not telling you an appeal is a hopeless option. We’re saying it’s difficult. The odds are usually stacked against you if you don’t have a good lawyer and an unlimited amount of cash. In most situations, living with a final judgment is more cost-effective. It is a less frustrating option. Let your lawyer explain to you the requirements for an appeal. Ask about the appeal process. Learn more about what it takes to be successful. More than half of appeals are rejected. Statistics are telling you that you only have a 50/50 chance of getting it right. Only half a chance of getting a favorable outcome. The chances even drop further if you are not well-represented by a good attorney.

How do you appeal family law cases in Michigan?

It takes time and effort to appeal your case to the Michigan Court of Appeals. It might also be highly costly. Here’s a broad view of how you can appeal your case.

Getting transcripts

An attorney must obtain a transcript of the circuit court trial to represent someone before the COA. A case cannot even be reviewed by the Michigan COA without the transcript from the lower court. Such a transcript frequently runs into the hundreds of pages. It can take a long time just to wait for the transcript to be produced by the circuit court’s court reporter. 

Appeal brief

Your lawyer will then be required to draft a “legal brief” on your behalf equipped with the transcript. It is a little misleading to call a legal brief “brief” because there is frequently nothing “brief” about it. Your attorney cannot just tell the COA that the circuit court judge committed a legal error. Your attorney will have to conduct research on the issue. Your attorney will provide the COA with precise statutory and case law citations. Those citations must support your claim. 

Oral arguments

The COA will be spending time reading your appeal brief and the brief of the other party. They will form an opinion or write a decision. After that, your lawyer gets a chance to explain the brief and argue your cases before a panel of three judges. These oral arguments are usually scheduled in Lansing or Detroit.

COA’s decision

Here’s another source of frustration for you. The COA takes a while to express its opinions or make a decision. It often takes many months or even longer to form an opinion or draft a decision. Adding to that frustration is the kind of decision or opinion you will get. The COA’s decision at times only instructs the circuit court to reexamine the case.  It only considers a select few facts in light of the COA’s opinion. Your appeal may take longer and cost more money as a result.

A divorce or custody case that has dragged on for months. The legal calisthenics has already drained you of cash and emotional energy. Consider another set of months waiting for an outcome that quite literally is like a coin toss. It is a hit-and-miss in the wait for outcomes. The only sure thing you can calculate is the time and money spent waiting. Anticipating either an opinion or a decision that may not even favor you. The most you can hope is being denied or a mere review of the case back to the lower court. The cost will come in the form of attorney fees, court fees, and material costs (transcripts). You also need to consider the timelines involved. There will be another set of deadlines. Another chunk of time waiting. Do you want to go through that again?

What are the timelines involved in an appeal?

The deadlines for submitting appeals are established by court rules. The appeal will be dismissed if it is not submitted by the deadline. the COA will be unable to evaluate it. The most important time limit in civil cases is 21 days. The final judgment may be contested within 21 days of the claim’s filing. Within 21 days of submitting the application for leave to appeal, the contested order must be raised. You might have submitted a motion for reconsideration. Within the 21-day window, you could offer the trial court a different sort of remedy. You might have to wait until the trial court has ruled on your motion before filing your appeal. The date of the order ruling on that motion is the start of the 21-day window for submitting an appeal claim.

Deadlines and late appeals

The most important time limit in civil cases is 21 days. The final judgment may be contested within 21 days of the claim’s filing. Within 21 days of submitting the application for leave to appeal, the contested order must be raised. You might have submitted a motion for reconsideration. Within the 21-day window, you could offer the trial court a different sort of remedy. You might have to wait until the trial court has ruled on your motion before filing your appeal. The date of the order ruling on that motion is the start of the 21-day window for submitting an appeal claim. You have to be aware when a document is considered received and filed.

Filing your appeal in the COA

Documents are often only regarded as filed after they are received by the COA. An electronic filing is deemed received at the time indicated therein. A weekend or court holiday is an exception. Documents received through e-filing on a Saturday, Sunday, or court holiday are docketed as submitted on the following business day. When a filing is made on paper, the court timestamps the document when it receives it. The timestamp displays the date that the Court regards as the document’s filing date. Note on the filing made by a prisoner who is not represented by counsel.

If it is mailed out by the institution on time or before the deadline, it has been filed in a timely manner. This has been the ruling since September 1, 2021. Before September 1, 2021, a similar rule was applied only to a claim of appeal or application and not later filings.

Does an appeal give you an outcome worth spending money and time on? Is it worth your attention and emotion? Isn’t it time to think about moving on? To consider a life after divorce. You still need to consider your children. They have endured so much already. Do you want to bet time on a coin toss? Why not talk to your attorney about better alternatives?

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