Q: Can I appeal a small claims court order since there was no monetary judgement filed?
I was sued by my ex over a dog that we adopted while together but has lived with me 90% of the time since we separated. For the eight years since we separated, I would let him take the dog from time to time but never more than a week and usually just a few days. He’s lived in the same place since we broke up, and I moved around, but the dog always went with me. We live in the same area again and this past year he started demanding equal time with the dog and that’s where the problems began. He ended up trying to take the dog from my house to which the police told him he would have to take it up in court. He filed a small claims suit against me for return of the property since the dog is registered in his name. I brought 10 years of vet records that i have paid for in my defense. The judge filed an ‘off calendar order’ with “other” checked and wrote in that we would share the dog monthly. this is not a judgement so how do i appeal her decision? It seems odd that she did it this way.
A: First, I am not a CA lawyer. But it seems that the "order" IS a final judgment, thus you can appeal this order to the next level. Whether the appeal is de novo OR on the record, I can't tell.
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