If you really think that the family court got things wrong, you may want to appeal the decision. It’s an understandable impulse, but you should learn exactly how the process works by talking with a Peoria County family law appeals lawyer. We can help you make your case and fight back against a poor decision.
What Are the Accepted Reasons for Filing an Appeal?
If you want to appeal a family law decision, your reasoning cannot just be that you do not like the decision or agree with it. You should be able to say that the decision is wrong and you should be able to back that up. This can be difficult, but there is no good reason to file an appeal if you do not believe that this will be possible.
How Long Do I Have to File an Appeal?
You must file your appeal within 30 days of the final order, so we recommend that you act quickly if you are considering this course of action. Wait any longer than this and you have lost your chance to challenge the decision. Once you file the Notice of Appeal, the real work begins.
How Does the Appeal Process Work?
The appellate court is not going to hear the entire case again. Instead, they are going to review what happened in the case the first time. They will look at all of the motions filed, any evidence that was used, and a record of the oral arguments made by both sides.
What you should do is write a brief that outlines why you are making the appeal. Why was the original decision incorrect? What legal reasons do you have to make this challenge? A lawyer can help you with this.
Do I Really Need a Lawyer?
Making an appeal on your own can be tough. First, you have the tight deadline to worry about. It can be easy for these kinds of things to get away from us when life gets busy, so you could end up missing your chance to make your appeal if you go it alone.
You also have to make a compelling case for why a decision to be overturned. The courts don’t take reversing decisions lightly, so you really need to be ready to make your best possible arguments here. We cannot make any guarantee here, but you can be sure that your lawyer will do their best to help you fine-tune your case and increase your chances of winning.
Contact Our Family Attorneys
So if you have decided to appeal a family law decision, you don’t have to do it all by yourself. Instead, contact Butler, Giraudo & Meister, P.C. and schedule a consultation with our team. We can tell you more about this process and how our experienced family law attorneys can be of assistance.
