By law, you have the right to appeal a judge’s decision in your Florida divorce case. You may have been unhappy with the amount of alimony awarded, the property division, the child support, or the child custody arrangements. A ruling on any or all of those issues can be appealed.
However, just because you legally can appeal does not mean you should. Simply because you are unhappy with the decision does not mean it will be overturned in appellate court. A trial judge has broad discretion in determining the outcome of divorce cases. Divorce decisions from the trial judge aren’t often overturned.
If a judge has made a legal error, the decision could be overturned. If the judge has abused his or her discretion, such as by presiding over a case of one of his or her friends, the appeal could be successful. If the only legal reason you are appealing is because you are unhappy, your appeal most likely won’t be successful.
Unfortunately, under Florida law you do not have much time in which to file an appeal for a divorce decision. By law, an appeal must be filed within 30 days of the final judgment in a Florida divorce. Therefore, if you believe that you wish to file an appeal, it’s important that you speak with your divorce attorney, or find a new divorce attorney, very quickly after your divorce is final.
Divorce appeals usually aren’t inexpensive, and often aren’t successful. It’s usually a good idea to avoid an appeal if possible. However, in some cases appeals are the only avenue to take to overturn an unjust decision.