You should think twice before you decide that you want to appeal a decision, as appeals can be surprisingly expensive. They're usually not as expensive as trials are, but the cost is still substantial. As well, it isn't always necessary to appeal a decision. This is especially important to consider unless the decision is about division of property or debt. Orders, even final orders, which deal with children, child support, and spousal support can often be varied following the decision. Of course to vary an order, there must have been a significant change in circumstances since the original decision was made. Read the section on [[Changing Final Supreme Court Family Law Orders in Family Matters]] in the chapter [[Resolving Family Law Problems Litigation in Supreme Court]] to learn about what a ''change in circumstances'' means and how this might permit variation of an order.

Appeals to the Court of Appeal are governed by two things: the ''[http[https://canlii.ca/t/84h4 b96x Court of Appeal Act]]'' and the [httphttps://canlii.ca/t/85bg bgkw Court of Appeal Rules]. You should be familiar with both the act Act and the Rules because both contain guidelines and deadlines for the conduct of an appeal. Reading the Rules is not enough!

The forms referred to below can be found on the [https://www.bccourts.ca/Court_of_Appeal/practice_and_procedure/Civil_Rules_Forms.aspx Court of Appeal's website], as well as through the very helpful [https://courtofappealbc. Some ca/civil-family Justice Education Society's Court of the forms Appeal BC Online Help Guide]. Forms are available as both MS Word templates and PDF files. The files marked as "PDF fillable" should be downloaded and saved locally to your computer, then opened directly using a PDF reader rather than your web browser. The PDF fillable forms usually do not work in your web browser's PDF reader.

To appeal a decision, you must file fill out a Notice of Appeal, in Form 7 1 of the Court of Appeal forms, Rules. File it in the registry of the Court of Appeal and serve it on the other side. The Notice of Appeal is a set form that you must fill out. In it you <span class="noglossary">will</span> have to say:

#when the order was madeparties to the appeal,#which judge made the orderyou are appealing,#that the relief you are making an appeal from a trial decision, or a final order of a judge in chambersseeking,#additional information, including whether the action in which the order under appeal is from originates has a decision involving the ''Divorce Act'' andsealing order or anonymous/or the ''Family Law Act''publication ban,and#what order you want the Court of Appeal information related to make, and#how long the trial tookservice.

Once you've filled out your Notice of Appeal, you must file it in the The registry of the Court of Appeal. They <span class="noglossary">will</span> charge you a fee for thisfiling the form, and you'll notice that all of the fees charged by the Court of Appeal are higher than those of the Supreme Court. The registry <span class="noglossary">will</span> stamp your Notice of Appeal with the seal of the court, a date stamp, and the file number of your action. You must then serve the Notice of Appeal on the other side.

Be aware that you have 30 days from the day after the decision was made to file your Notice of Appeal. The date the decision order is made is what's important, not the date you receive a judge's reasons. Once the 30 days have run out, you <span class="noglossary">will</span> not be able to make your appeal unless you make a special application to the court for an extension of time. In general, the Court of Appeal is very strict and <span class="noglossary">will</span> demand that you obey the deadlines and rules exactly.

You cannot appeal a decision simply because you don't like it, and you cannot appeal a decision just to stall its consequences. You must have a proper legal reason for bringing the appeal.

You have 30 days from the day after the order was made (not the date the order is formally written up and entered in the court registry, but the date the order is issued by the judge) to file your Notice of Appeal and serve it on the other side. Where there is an urgency to getting the appeal heard, review the Practice Directive on Expediting an Appeal.

After the respondent has been served with your Notice of Appeal, they <span class="noglossary">will</span> have 10 days to file a Notice of Appearance in Form 2 and serve it on you, acknowledging your appeal. At this point, the respondent may choose to serve a Notice of Cross Appeal in Form 2 against you. This is the respondent's own separate appeal from the trial decision.

==Preparing the Appeal Recordappeal record, Appeal Book appeal book and transcripts==

This is where things start to get expensive. Within 60 days of filing your Form 1 Notice of Appeal, you must obtain a transcript of the testimony in the court appealed from, file the transcript with the court, and serve a copy on the respondent.

The transcript you must obtain is a transcript of all the oral evidence given at trial. You will have to contact a court reporting company (they're in the Yellow Pages) and make arrangements for them to transcribe what was said during the tapes that were made court proceedings. Transcripts are produced by private companies under agreement with the Ministry of Attorney General. You can learn more about these transcription companies, their fees, and the regions and types of court proceedingseach is able to serve by visiting the BC Government's website’s [https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/courthouse-services/documents-forms-records/court-transcript court transcripts information page]. A court reporter employed by the company retrieves the audio of the hearing from the court and painstakingly transcribes each and every word. J.C. Word Assist Ltd., one of the larger companies that provides this service, charges around $10 to $14 per page (depending on the turnaround time you need) to produce transcripts of court hearings. The rule of thumb is that each hour of a hearing is about 30 pages of transcript. So a typical day in court, which is around four hours of actual court time after the breaks are accounted for, will easily cost over $1,200 to transcribe, plus extra fees for copies.

Also within 60 days after bringing an appeal, you must prepare an Appeal Record in Form 9 under Rule 23 of the Court of Appeal formsRules you must prepare an ''appeal record'', file it with the court, and serve a copy on the respondent. The Appeal Record appeal record must contain the following:

# A copy of the Form 1 Notice of Appeal.

Within Under Rule 26 of the Court of Appeal Rules, within 30 days after filing the Appeal Recordappeal record, you must prepare an Appeal Book in Form 12, ''appeal book''. You need to file it with the court, and serve a copy on the respondent. The Appeal Book appeal book contains the documentary exhibits that were entered at the trial that are relevant to the appeal. For example, if the appeal is only about parenting time, you would not need to include all of the financial documents that were put in evidence at trial, just the documents that relate to parenting time.

When preparing your Appeal Bookappeal book, you must pay close attention to the rules Rules and the form provided in the Court of Appeal Rulesand format they require. There are a couple of companies that will prepare your Appeal Book appeal book for you; they are listed in . You can look for these companies' brochures at the Yellow PagesCourt of Appeal Registry or search for them online (hint "appeal book preparation" or "appeal book services" along with "British Columbia" will produce some results).

You will need a total of six copies of each of these documents — the transcript, the Appeal Recordappeal record, and the Appeal Book appeal book — since the court gets four, you'll need one, and the respondent gets one as well.

Since transcripts can often run to several hundred pages, as can Appeal Booksappeal books, the cost of this step can be quite high.

After you've filed your Appeal Book appeal book and received the transcripts, you must deliver a copy to the respondent.

You have 30 days from the time you filed your Appeal Record appeal record to file your factum. A factum, which is to be prepared in Form 10 of the Court of Appeal forms, is iis your written argument as to why the appeal court should make the order you want. See the Court of Appeal's website for handy MS Word templates of both You can also explore the [https://www.bccourtscourtofappealbc.ca/Court_of_Appeal/practice_and_procedure/Forms/CA12345_factum_appellant_Final.dotx Form 10 Appellantcivil-family Justice Education Society's FactumCourt of Appeal BC Online Help Guide] , and in particular the [https://wwwpages on preparing specific appeal-related documents.bccourts.ca/Court_of_Appeal/practice_and_procedure/Forms/CA12345_factum_respondent_Final.dotx Form 10 Respondent's Factum]. Using these This online resource uses plain language, and links to the Court of Appeal’s own updated document examples, templates might be easier than preparing a Form 10 on your own from scratch, and instructions.

Factums contain seven partsstandard elements:

#'''Index:Cover page'''# '''Table of contents''' : Listing each part and its page number.#'''Chronology:''' : A brief, point-form list or table of critical events that are relevant to the issue on appeal.#'''Opening Statement:statement''' : A concise, one-page statement identifying yourself (as appellant or respondent), the lower court being appealed from, the result of the case before, and the essential point of the appeal (why it should succeed or fail). #'''Part 1 - Statement of facts:''' : A statement of the facts of the appeal, as the trial judge found them to be.#'''Part 2 - Errors in judgment:''' : A statement as to how you think the trial judge erred in law.#'''Part 3 - Argument:''' : Your formal argument, about the law, how the judge applied the law to the facts, and how the judge should have applied the law.#'''Part 4 - Nature of order sought:''' : A statement of the order you'd like the Court of Appeal to make.#'''Appendices: List of authorities:''' : A list of the case law you rely on in your argument.# '''Appendices: Enactments''': A list of the acts and regulations you rely on in your argument.

===Filing the certificate Notice of readinessHearing===

When an appeal is ready for hearing, you must file and serve a certificate of readiness in Form 14 5 Notice of the Court Hearing of Appeal forms. An appeal is ready for hearing:*when the Appeal Record and your factum and Appeal Book are filed, or*if an order has been made dispensing with the need for your factum, when your Appeal Book is filed. Your certificate is a statement that the appeal is ready to be heard and provides a time estimate under Rule 33 of how long the hearing <span class="noglossary">will</span> take. You can then contact the registry to arrange a date for the hearing Court of the appeal, and file a Notice of Hearing in Form 34 and serve it on the other partyAppeal Rules.

You Under Rule 27 of the Court of Appeal Rules, you must prepare a book of authorities using Form 21. This is a binder containing all of the case law and statutes that you are relying on in the argument you've set out in your factum. You should arrange the cases in the order that you set them out in the list of authorities in your factum. Make five copies. One copy is for you, another is for the respondent, and the court <span class="noglossary">will</span> get the remaining three. You must file these three copies with the registry at least three days before the hearing of the appeal.

For more information on the appeals process, see the :# ''[https://www.clicklaw.bccourtofappealbc.ca/resource/2601 civil-family Justice Education Society's Court of Appeal BC Online Help Guide]. The site offers guidebooks '', with specific guides for appellants both the appellant and respondentsthe respondent, as well as flowcharts, and links to forms# ''[https://canlii.ca/t/srvn The CanLII Manual to British Columbia Civil Litigation]'', with a flow chart overview good breakdown of the process for eachCourt of Appeal Rules# The Court of Appeal’s [https://www.bccourts.ca/Court_of_Appeal/ website], in particular:## [https://www.bccourts.ca/Court_of_Appeal/practice_and_procedure/Civil_Rules_Forms.aspx New Court Forms, Completion Instructions and Templates] information page, with lots of official links, document templates, and lists of forms. 

{{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[Megan Ellis | Megan Ellis, QCJustin Werb]], June 11October 12, 20192023}}

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