What happens if you go to Court and are unhappy with the outcome of the Superior Court? What are your options? First, you must consider weather you are a person who can appeal. Second, the Court must have made a judgment, an appealable order, or an order after judgment that is appealable. Then you must file what is called a Notice of Appeal within a certain time frame to let the Court know you intend to appeal the Court’s order(s).
Are you a person who can appeal?
In order to appeal, you must be an “aggrieved” person. This means that the Superior Court made a decision that affects your legal rights. Also, you must have been a party in the case that was heard in the Superior Court. You may not appeal for a spouse or a child (unless you have been appointed as a guardian at litem).
What can you appeal?
Not every court order is appealable. In family law, a party can appeal most of the orders made in the case right away. However, in other cases you can only appeal if it is a final judgment or an order after a final judgment. After the trial or hearing is over, you will need to get a conformed file-stamped copy of the order(s) you want to appeal. You then use this as an attachment to your Notice of Appeal and the date of the file stamp is what you use to count from to figure out how much time you have to file your Notice of Appeal (CRC rule 8.104(d).)
When can you appeal?
You can file a Notice of Appeal as soon as the order or judgment is signed by the Superior Court Judge and file stamped by the court clerk. The time allowed to file a Notice of Appeal depends on whether there was a notice of entry of judgment and if so, when it was served on the other side. Once it has been served, the Notice of Appeal must be filed within 60 days of the date of service.
If there is no notice of entry of judgment, the appellant has 180 days after entry of the order to file the Notice of Appeal. The time to file the Notice of Appeal may be extended if there is a timely motion:
- For a new trial;
- To vacate (or set aside) the judgment;
- For judgment not withstanding the verdict; or
- To reconsider an appealable order.
The time limits for filing these motions are set out in Code of Civil Procedure Sections 659, 663, 629, and 1008(a). If one of these motions has been filed, the deadline to file a Notice of Appeal may be extended.
To speak to an experienced Family Law attorney, contact Cage & Miles, LLP today.
