Legal Question in Family Law in California

I suggest that you repost your question, indicating the nature of the hearing on July 6th. Some hearings determine appealable decisions. Other hearings lead to decisions that are may be appealable, only in the future. Other types of decisions are not appealable.

1. Not all orders entered by California trial courts are appealable. Although a party may file a notice of appeal from something they don't like, the appellate court is required to dismiss if the order or judgment being appealed from is not appealable. It can be very confusing to determine whether something is appealable, and is one of the threshold questions an appellate attorney must consider when handling an appeal.

For example, pendente lite attorneys fees orders are appealable in family law cases. But an order finding someone in contempt of court is not appealable. (That must be reviewed by a writ of habeas corpus, or other extraordinary writ procedure.) So it depends on the nature of the hearing and the order to determine whether the order is appealable.

2. All family law proceedings are considered to be unlimited jurisdiction, and appeals from those courts are always to the Court of Appeal for the district where the trial court is located. (Unless ordered otherwise for extraordinary reasons.)

3. The time limit to file a notice of appeal for appeals in these types of cases is governed by California Rules of Court, rules 8.104 and 8.108. Rather than repeat those rules here, you can read them at the following link: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/cms/rules/index.cfm?title=eight