What do you think?

[melissa3]

On the news the other night, our judge for our case admitted he (and other judges) is over-worked, overwhelmed and is likely to make mistakes. Could that be of any benefit to our appeal?

Our case stayed in deliberation for over 2 months and our judgment was just awful – BM got sole custody, fiancé has no visitation until he completes an evaluation that he can't afford and he has to pay his child support to a county neither party has ever lived in, even though fiancé and his ex agreed in court that he could just pay BM directly.

Opinions?

[annemichellesdad]

It could be of benefit SOMEHOW, but most likely not with an appeals court. An appelate court does not look at new evidence. It only looks as the court record to determine if errors of law were made.

You mentioned that your judgment was "awful". That's of no use to an appelate court. Rather, you must determine whether or not the judge acted incorrectly. Unfortunately, judges have a great deal of lattitude and discretion in "family" law. Far more, in fact, that in criminal or non-family civil matters. That's why there are so few appeals from family court.

You should pour over you order LINE BY LINE and compare each element of his judgment with the ACTUAL LAW which he onstensibly referred to for guidance. You don't need an attorney to do this type of legal legwork if you are diligent. If you find something that you believe is in error, take THAT information to your attorney.

For what it's worth, I have decided to run for the legislature in my state on a platform or reforming family law. Our courts can only work within the framework of the law that is provided. To really change things, we have to change the LAW. I intend to introduce legislation that will take family matters out of the hands of the judges for whom there is no prerequisite of qualifications in the ares of family psychology or welfare. A system which is clearly BROKEN cannnot merely be tweaked in order to get it to work.

Best of luck