Legal Question in Family Law in Michigan

Re: How to file appeal to higher court after final hearing?

You have 21 days from the final hearing to file a claim of appeal. You will need to order a transcript and you will probably need an attorney to do the necessary research to present and write the appropriate brief.

Re: How to file appeal to higher court after final hearing?

To even ask the question, shows how badly you need a lawyer. The appeal from the Circuit Court goes to the Court of Appeals. You have to order the transcript of the hearing in the lower court. Depending upon how long the hearing was, this can cost anywhere from $50 to thousands of dollars. Then, the filing fee is $375.00 to the Court of Appeals and $25.00 to the Circuit Court. You must follow certain procedures, such as getting the docket entries from the computer. Your appeal has to be based upon a combination of facts and how those facts apply to the law on the subject. You will definitely need a lawyer and the lawyer will have to review the transcript, research the law and write the brief, using the format demanded by the Michigan Court Rules. This will undoubtedly cost many thousands of dollars. This is why it is being penny-wise and pound foolish to attempt to do it yourself in the lower court and rely upon an appeal if things go wrong. William S. Stern