How to Understand Rulings Issued by Family Court
Family court judges are of course at the heart of today’s topic as they routinely overrule themselves, or their decisions in divorce, custody, parenting time, child support, alimony and other family related legal matters, when a party timely appeals (which a good number of litigants devilishly refuse to do on their own or even their counsel at times because they consider the decision acceptable enough for them). Such decisions are also reviewable by the appellate division and they can be reversed by whomever the appellate division delegates decision making authority to , whether that be a panel or just one member. The bottom line to all of this is that family court rulings are not absolute and that judges have the ability to reconsider their decisions (just think of something as mundane as an incorrect support amount that looks like it can just be fixed without even moving to reconsider). Family court judges are assigned to hear cases involving divorce, separation, support, custody, parenting time, child abuse, alimony, spousal support, grandparent or cohabitant visitation, domestic violence, etc. Most of these cases involve passionate emotions and dire financial or family consequences that make the stakes high. To safeguard against improper rulings with significant implications for families and children, appellate review of family court decisions is available to help protect everyone’s rights.
How the Appeal Process Works to Challenge a Family Court Ruling
After the decision by the Family Court Judge, there may be a belief that the Judge got it wrong, and there is a need to have another court review the matter to see if the Judge made a mistake. You should first consult with an attorney to review the Judge’s decision and determine if there is any merit to your appeal. An attorney will make sure that you know the timeline to appeal the decision. If the timeframe expires without filing, then you can no longer appeal the decision.
The Notice of Appeal is the document that lists the parties to the case, the Judge’s decision, how the Judge got it wrong, and why the appeal court should overturn the decision. The filing of the Appeal gives the Court jurisdiction over the matter and the rights of the parties. The appellate Court will not consider the facts that were presented to the Family Court, but only what is presented in the Appellate Court Brief (the argument of the party appealing the decision). The party that won at the Family Court may file their Appellate Court Brief first, or it may be filed simultaneously. There is a specific timeline to filing the Brief. The Appellate Court will schedule oral arguments if requested. A party can waive oral arguments if an argument can be made strictly on paper. The Appellate Court will issue an opinion or decision stating whether they agree with the Family Court Judge or not. The decision will be affirmed, remanded, modified, or reversed.
What the Appellate Court Does When Reviewing Family Law Cases
The appellate court’s function is not to retry a case. Appellate judges do not hear testimony or take evidence; rather, they review the record of the trial court. When the trial was a jury trial, the appellate court defers to the jury’s assessment of credibility of the witnesses. In other words, if the jury disbelieves a party, the fact that the appellate court might believe that party does not provide grounds for overturning the jury’s verdict. Consequently, an appellate court will not overrule a trial court or jury’s verdict except in extreme circumstances, such as where there is no evidence to support a verdict against a particular party or where the underlying legal principle is so significant that an appellate court feels bound to correct it.
If the court tried the case instead of a jury, it renders judgment based on a presumption that the trial court applied the law correctly. In contrast to a jury in a family law case, when the trial court is called on to decide fact issues with regard to one of the traditional areas of equity jurisdiction (divorce or annulment, suits affecting the parent-child relationship (SAPCR), probate and guardianship matters), it must prepare findings of fact and conclusions of law. Findings of fact and conclusions of law are an appellate aid whereby the trial court makes a statement of the facts that it found are true and gives its legal reasoning for making its order. Where the appellate record contains findings of fact and conclusions of law from the trial court, the appellate court may not reverse a trial court’s judgment on unsupported or uncontroverted findings of fact or use its own judgment in assessing the facts. Consequently, the appellate court may not reverse the trial court’s judgment if any evidence reasonably supports it.
However, because the appellate court is bound by the trial court’s written findings of fact for appellate purposes only (and not for the purpose of a jury trial), it will determine whether the trial judge’s conclusions of law are supported by findings of fact and by the law. If the trial court did not file findings of fact and conclusions of law and should have done so, the appellate court will abate the appeal and remand the cause to the trial court to hear evidence necessary to file the findings of fact and conclusions of law. Where the trial court was not required to file findings of fact and conclusions of law, the appellate court will consider the findings of fact and conclusions law from the trial court to be the trial court’s implicit findings and conclusions and will review the findings and conclusions in that manner.
Possible Grounds for Reversing a Family Court Judge
Any ruling or order handed down by a family court judge is not final. The law provides specific avenues through which litigants can seek relief from a family court judge’s decision if they believe that the judge’s ruling was erroneous or an abuse of the judge’s discretion. That said, there are strict requirements litigants must meet in order to have their case heard by an appellate court. Overall, there are three common grounds through which a family court judge may be overruled: an incorrect application of the law and/or rules, discovery errors, and incorrect findings based on material evidence.
Incorrect Application of the Law and/or Rules
The law is the law, and it is the duty of the family court judges to understand it and apply the rules set out in state statutes and input by precedent rulings. Where there is a failure to apply the law , an appellate court has the authority to reverse and remand the case to the lower court.
Discovery Errors
Discovery refers to the formal process by which each party in a legal proceeding can obtain information that is presumed to be relevant to the case from the other party. Any discovery error may lead to the misapplication of a rule or statute, so discovery errors are also remediable as an overreaching error. Simply stated, the family court judge abused his or her discretion by not applying the applicable law in circumstances when it should have.
Incorrect Findings Based on Material Evidence
Evidentiary issues are handled by the lower court, and the family court judge is responsible for making sure that all testimony presented is sound and credible. If you have presented credible evidence, and the judge’s findings are inconsistent with the evidence presented, the finding is incorrect. Now, this does not mean that the judge has to rule in favor of the more credible testimony; rather, if the judge’s findings are not supported by the evidence, the judge’s findings are incorrect and should be remanded. A ruling cannot be fair if it is inconsistent with the evidence presented.
Conditions Under Which Family Court Judges Cannot Be Overturned
Until a final court decision is rendered, appeals are traditionally the primary means by which a litigant may hope to successfully overturn a Family Court judge’s decision. After all, judges are charged with the duty of interpreting the law, deciding what facts and evidence apply to which law, and making findings and conclusions based on that interpretation, fact, and evidence.
The appellate courts do not have the authority to retry Family Court cases to determine what facts and evidence the judge should have concluded from the trial.; Rather, the appellate courts are only concerned with whether the Family Court judge followed the law and fairly evaluated the evidence. When the Family Court judge acts in a manner that is prohibited by law or fails to act in a way that is required by law, the appellate courts will correct the Family Court’s legal errors. Typically, the appellate courts will reverse any legal errors that occurred in the Family Court and remand the case to the Family Court judge for reevaluation in light of the appellate court’s decision. Moreover, when a Family Court judge exercises discretion in making a decision, the appellate courts will reverse the judge’s discretion only when it is proven that the Family Court judge abused that discretion.
With respect to a Family Court summary divorce judgment, however, there are limits to whether the appellate courts will correct legal errors or review a Family Court judge’s exercise of discretion in rendering the decision. Specifically, a summary divorce decision cannot be reviewed by the appellate courts if certain actions are not taken by the parties. The only exceptions to these limits are: (1) where an appeal was filed despite two time periods running concurrently and after the longer time period was completed, and (2) where a party’s default in the time period was excused by the Family Court judge for good cause.
In a word, however, and subject to the exceptions above, the summary divorce judgment is final and cannot be appealed. In a summary divorce proceeding, two time periods run concurrently, which means that both time periods are over at the same time and are calculated from the date of the filing of the notice for the summary divorce hearing. The first 10-day period is conditioned on the wife’s execution of the dismissal of her prior civil action properly. A party’s failure to take timely action to submit the signed dismissal form is deemed to be an objection to the summary divorce judgment, thereby preventing the Family Court judge from granting the judgment unless good cause is shown for the wife’s default.
Despite the simple nature of the summary divorce judgment as compared to other Family Court decisions, it is important to remember that the summary divorce judgment offers no opportunity for an appellate court to correct legal errors or review a Family Court judge’s exercise of discretion in rendering the decision. Thus, although a summary divorce judgment may indeed be unfair from the perspective of one of the parties, in the absence of the above-stated exceptions, the lower court’s judgment stands as is.
What Happens to Families with Overruling
The potential impact of overruling a family court judge’s decision on families cannot be overstated. These can be devastating for all involved.
Consider practical effects like changes in spousal or child support payments. For example, if a judge orders one party to pay the other support and the judge’s decision is overturned at a later date, enforcement of an order is placed on hold until a higher appellate court or the Florida Supreme Court issues its decision. This leaves the original award in limbo. If the award is reversed, the other party will not have to pay the awarded amount and the party who was ordered to pay support could be stuck with significant arrears. A change in spousal support could significantly impact whether one spouse is able to afford to continue living in the marital house or afford to move elsewhere. Child support orders can significantly affect a parent’s ability to reside somewhere appropriate and to get their children the nutrition and education they deserve . There can also be repercussions in personal injury actions where a party is awarded future lost damages. A judge may determine that based on the injured party’s life expectancy and age of injury the future lost wages amount is money that should be awarded. A jury is not capable of base an award for future pay damages on a plaintiff’s life expectancy. Without a judge’s decision the jury’s decision is legally flawless in a case that should be about outcomes not flaw litigation.
There are numerous other issues where the judge’s decision could have a major effect on outcomes. For example, where a judge determines the amount of alimony required for a spouse to maintain a reasonable standard of living, an appeal could have a devastating effect on that spouse’s ability to implement the judge’s order.
At the very least, there is an emotional toll on any family impacted by litigation. An even greater impact is where the family is now thrown back into the middle of the family law system. The system will soon tell them whether their lives have been forever changed for better or worse.