How to Appeal the Court’s Decision on Your Divorce 1


A divorce trial can be very contentious and stressful, so you would be very thankful when it’s all over. However, the hassle would continue if you find the final orders unacceptable. Is there still a way to overturn the decision?

Appealing the Court Decision

The family court has jurisdiction for divorce cases. Thus, the rules of the family court apply. If you want to appeal the final orders of your divorce, you have to do it within thirty days.

When appealing civil cases in Texas, you cannot only air your objection to the final orders. It must be shown that the judge didn’t follow the law or overstepped his boundaries.

This is particularly difficult. The appellate court usually gives judges much leeway in interpreting the evidence that leads to his decision. Many divorce cases, without clear cases of abuse, are often subject to interpretation.

The Time Period for Filing

A notice of appeal is filed within 30 days. This is from the date of entry of the final judgment. You need to prepare a brief which explains the basis of the appeal along with the trial transcript. You will also need to present the evidence, pleadings, and other supporting documents. These have to be compelling and persuasive.

This sounds like a daunting task because it is. Appeals take up the time and resources of the court. They would want to make sure that there is a valid reason to re-examine a case.

Reasons for Appeal

In some instances, appeals happen when testimony is proven false or inaccurate. For example, if accusations of infidelity were strongly validated by multiple witnesses, an appeal is proper.

If the evidence proves there was a false accusation, it could be a basis to appeal the final orders. However, this is still subject to interpretation. Infidelity in itself is not a crime in Texas. The weight that judges place on it when rendering their final orders is entirely subjective.

Reasons for appeal are, however, not limited to false or inaccurate testimony. It could also be a violation of due process. The Appeals court would not necessarily proceed with the appeal based on how the judge decreed, but the appellant may argue that the judge was misled and was not capable of rendering a fair and equitable decision at that time.

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Mr. Hutton is a Divorce and Custody Lawyer based out of Round Rock, TX. His background is with child psychology at Arizona State University where he received a B.S. in 2006, and he continued this by working with the Children’s Right’s Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law where he received his J.D. in 2009. Throughout his practice, he has been a strong proponent of utilizing modern technology to improve his practice and the representation of his clients. He currently is the technology chair of CAFA of Travis County and is committed to improving and modernizing the practice of law in Texas. If you have any questions you can contact him at timothy.hutton@austintexaslegal.com

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One thought on “How to Appeal the Court’s Decision on Your Divorce

  • Ben Z.

    I told my attorney, Valerie Houghton, that my ex was letting an older man molest our 13 year old son. She mostly ignored me. Furthermore, I was not permitted to discuss it with my son.

    There was a hearing about two weeks after I told Ms. Houghton about my son. My ex not only disclosed that she had hidden $130,000 worth of gold coins, but also agreed to divide them.

    I was in complete shock. Ms. Houghton never even said that it was a possibility. I never thought that I would see those coins again because my ex is GREEDY.

    We each got $25,000 worth. The remaining $80,000 went to my attorney to be held in trust.

    I fired Ms. Houghton after that hearing. She went on to represent my ex without telling me. I was subsequently cut out of my children’s lives.

    I asked the judge to tell me why I could not contact my kids. He spent several minutes on the computer, but could not provide an answer of any kind.

    After the divorce was finalized, I checked Ms. Houghton’s website. She listed the judge a personal reference and a former employer.

    My son recently turned 18, so I was able to see him. He confirmed that he had indeed been molested. The other 3 have also shown strong indications of being sexually abused, but I cannot confirm it because I have not seen them in almost 8 years.

    I told my son to go report it to the police. A week and a half later the judge filed an order on HIS OWN ACCORD. He ordered that I could only have supervised visitation with my ADULT son.

    I ended up making complaints against Ms. Houghton and the judge. I was then hacked, stalked, harassed, and even poisoned. All of my organs are now damaged, my testicles have atrophied, and the shape of my face has changed.

    Valerie says that she “lost a lot of business” because of my complaints. She also says that she “can do whatever [she] wants, whenever [she] wants.”

    You can read my formal complaints here:

    https://en.calameo.com/read/006718309538d136d3b0c

    https://en.calameo.com/read/006718309b846b5200bda

    You can see what the poisoning did here:

    https://copblaster.com/blast/34409/judge-james-e-towery-sex-trafficked-all-of-my-children

    I guess that now she is rebooting her business in Round Rock. Her new business is called “Your Family Dynamics, LLC”

    https://www.bizapedia.com/tx/your-family-dynamics-llc.html

    I hope that she is will stop assaulting people and sex trafficking children.

    My youngest son was just two years old. She just never cared about them.