Appellate Process New Jersey
You didn’t get the child custody arrangement you wanted. In your opinion, the Court did not order enough in alimony to address your needs, you’re unhappy with the parenting schedule when it comes to winter break, or summer break— or both.
There are many various reasons why, after your initial divorce proceedings conclude, you may decide to re-engage with the New Jersey Family Court system and consult with a New Jersey Appellate Lawyer. You’re appealing something the Court decided— because you feel it was decided wrongly or unfairly. Let’s look at why you may decide to consult a New Jersey Appellate Lawyer, how you should proceed, and what it might do for you:
- Keep an eye on the clock. First and foremost, be aware of the strict Court deadlines for
filing an appeal or defending against an appeal. Your New Jersey Appellate Lawyer will
advise you of the timeline for an appeal. Act quickly!
- Be realistic about your expectations. If you’re consulting with a lawyer— and,
sometimes, clients may decide to engage a new lawyer who can bring a fresh pair of
eyes to their issues— you need to speak with them realistically about what you hope to
achieve. Can you really reset the custody arrangement? Is that amount of alimony
feasible, given your ex-spouse’s job status? Are you moving too aggressively (or not
aggressively enough) when fighting for those parenting days? In consultation with a
New Jersey Appellate Lawyer, you should be honest with them (and yourself) about
what you hope to gain.
- Try to see the situation from your ex-spouse or your co-parent’s point-of-view. Of
course, this is easier written than done. Reengaging the Court, though, takes time and
resources, and will behoove you to view the scenario from across the negotiating table:
did your ex-spouse’s promotion or demotion realistically impact his/her earnings that
significantly? Did your co-parent have a legitimate reason to revise the parenting
schedule (a grandparent’s funeral, a once-in-a-lifetime vacation)?
- Don’t be afraid to use the New Jersey appellate process. Appeals exist for a reason, and
though oftentimes divorce itself is messy, complicated, overly long and sometimes
costly, you may legitimately feel there’s reason enough to re-engage. Consult with a
New Jersey Appellate Lawyer: while no one wants the long, protracted, drawn-out
custody battle we’ve become accustomed to seeing in the movies or on television, if you
legitimately feel the Court has made a mistake and erred, avail yourself of the process—
it’s there for a reason.
- Make sure you’re confident in your New Jersey Appellate Lawyer. Whether he or she is
the original counsel you had in the divorce proceedings, or you’ve decided to seek new
counsel, you want to be happy with your choice. What does that mean? You want to
feel respected, listened to, heard. You want their encouraging though honest and
educated opinions. If you consult with a New Jersey Appellate Lawyer it likely means not
everything went the way you wanted in the first place. Make sure you’re comfortable
with your counsel.
It often strikes clients just how long divorce proceedings can take— and the Appellate process
only adds to that. However, if you have the feeling something could be better, you may owe it
to yourself to try and change it. We’re talking about your money, your time, your family. We’re
here to help you move forward— and sometimes that means taking a breath, reassessing, and
taking a different step in a new direction to ultimately get you where you want to be.
Need to consult with a New Jersey Appellate Lawyer? Call us, fill out the intake form, or email a
dedicated Family Law paralegal to speak with the O’Cathain Law Group.