Appeal against a decision by a Family Courts district judge or magistrate

Security for costs is required to appeal any of the following orders under the Women's Charter:

• An order for ancillary relief (not being an interim order) under Chapter 4 or 5 of Part X of the Women’s Charter, pursuant to a Writ of Summons of divorce, judicial separation or nullity of marriage.
  • An order for ancillary relief may involve matters such as (but not limited to) the division of matrimonial assets, maintenance or welfare of children.
• An order under Chapter 4 or 5 of Part X of the Women’s Charter, varying in whole or in part an order for ancillary relief (not being an interim order) pursuant to a Writ of Summons for divorce, judicial separation or nullity of marriage.
• An order with respect to the title to or possession of the property pursuant to Section 59 of the Women’s Charter.
• A protection order, or a variation or rescission of a protection order, pursuant to Section 65 or Section 67 of the Women’s Charter.
• An order for the payment of any sum towards the maintenance of a wife or child pursuant to Section 69 of the Women’s Charter.
• An order for the enforcement, variation or rescission of a maintenance order pursuant to Section 71, Section 72 or Section 81 of the Women’s Charter.
• An order made pursuant to an application under Section 94 of the Women’s Charter.
• An order for interim judgment under Section 95(4) of the Women’s Charter.
• A judgment of judicial separation under Section 101 of the Women’s Charter.
• A judgment of nullity under Section 110 of the Women’s Charter.
• An order for financial relief pursuant to Section 121G of the Women’s Charter.

Security for costs is required to appeal the following order under the Administration of the Muslim Law Act:

• An order for the enforcement of any order of the Syariah Court pursuant to Section 53 of the Administration of the Muslim Law Act.

Security for costs is required to appeal any adoption order made under the Adoption of Children Act.

Security for costs is required to appeal any order under the Guardianship of Infants Act relating to the custody, care and control of a child, the right of access to a child, the relocation of a child or the payment of any sum towards the maintenance of a child.

Security for costs is required to appeal any order made under Section 3 or Section 6 of the Inheritance (Family Provision) Act.

Security for costs is required to appeal any order made under Part III (other than Section 9 or 10) of the International Child Abduction Act.

Security for costs is required to appeal any order made under Section 4 of the Legitimacy Act.

Security for costs is required to appeal any order for the enforcement of a maintenance order made under the Maintenance of Parents Act pursuant to Section 10 of that act.

Security for costs is required to appeal any provisional maintenance order made under the Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act.

Security for costs is required to appeal any of the following orders under the Mental Capacity Act will require security:

• An order, a decision or a direction under Section 17 or Section 18 of the Mental Capacity Act.
• A declaration made under Section 19 of the Mental Capacity Act.
• An order making a decision on behalf of a person lacking capacity under Section 20 of the Mental Capacity Act.
• An order relating to the appointment of a deputy or successor deputy (including a variation or discharge of any such order) or an order revoking any such appointment or the powers conferred on any deputy or successor deputy, pursuant to Sections 20 to 24 of the Mental Capacity Act.
• An order of suspension under Section 36A of the Mental Capacity Act.
• An order under Section 38 of the Mental Capacity Act granting or refusing permission for an application to the court under that Act.

Security for costs is required to appeal any of the following orders:

• An order relating to the grant of probate of a will or letters of administration of an estate of a deceased person, or for the revocation of any such grant, or for a decree pronouncing for or against the validity of an alleged will, under the Probate and Administration Act.
• Any order relating to the administration of an estate of a deceased person.

Security for costs is required to appeal any order made under the Status of Children (Assisted Reproduction Technology) Act.

Security for costs is required to appeal any order made under Section 17A(2) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act.

Security for costs is required to appeal any order made under the Voluntary Sterilization Act.

Security for costs is required to appeal any order made under Division 1, Division 2 or Division 3 of Part 2 of the Vulnerable Adults Act, or any order made under Part 4 of the Vulnerable Adults Act.

If you have been filing documents through the LawNet & CrimsonLogic Service Bureau, then your case is an eLitigation case.

If your case was concluded before 2004, your case is a manual case.

Visit the LawNet & CrimsonLogic Service Bureau and file a Direction to Accountant-General for Payment-In and obtain a copy of the declaration form. You will be required to make a return trip to CrimsonLogic Service Bureau to collect the accepted Payment-In.

After this is accepted by the court, you will need to make the bank transfer of the deposit. You should ensure that the transfer is successful before emailing a copy of the accepted Payment-In, signed declaration form, and proof of bank transfer to VITAL_FS_Receivable@vital.gov.sg. Upon successful receipt of the documents, VITAL will issue a receipt. E-payments are strongly encouraged. The processing time for the security deposit submission is 1 clear working day.

Note: The appeal timeline will continue to run during any processing time. Please contact VITAL directly if the processing time is longer than expected.

You will receive a receipt for the deposit. You will need to submit this receipt when filing the appeal.

These cases are filed in the Integrated Family Application Management System (iFAMS):

• Applications for protection against family violence.
• Maintenance applications filed under Part VIII of the Women's Charter.
• Applications to protect vulnerable adults.
• Simplified deputyship applications.

If your case was filed in iFAMS, visit the Maintenance Registry in the Family Justice Courts to file a Direction to Accountant-General for Payment-In and obtain a copy of the declaration form and the accepted Payment-In. You will need to pay $20.

After this is accepted by the court, you will need to make the bank transfer of the deposit. You should ensure that the transfer is successful before emailing a copy of the accepted Payment-In, signed declaration form, and proof of bank transfer to VITAL_FS_Receivable@vital.gov.sg. Upon successful receipt of the documents, VITAL will issue a receipt. E-payments are strongly encouraged. The processing time for the security deposit submission is 1 clear working day.

You will receive a receipt for the deposit. You will need to submit this receipt when filing the Notice of Appeal.

To proceed with the appeal, you need to file the following documents via eLitigation within 1 month of the date of the Notice of Collection:

• Record of appeal.
• Appellant's Case.
  

How to prepare the documents

The record of appeal should include a copy each of the:

• Notice of Appeal.
• Certificate of payment of security for costs.
• Record of proceedings.
• Affidavits of Evidence-in-Chief.
• Documents in the nature of pleadings.
  • These may include the Statement of Claim, Defence, Reply, Counterclaim or Defence to Counterclaim.
• Judgment or order you are appealing against.

Note: You should also include any other documents that are relevant to the matter or the nature of the appeal.

The Appellant's Case is a document that states the following points:

• Circumstances out of which the appeal arises.
• Issues arising in the appeal.
• Your contentions (arguments) for the appeal and the authorities (relevant cases, statutes, subsidiary legislation and other materials) that support your arguments.
• Reasons for the appeal.

Note: It should be formatted as numbered paragraphs and be as concise as possible.

Refer to Rules 827 and 828 of the Family Justice Rules for more information.

To proceed with the appeal, you need to file the following documents via eLitigation within 7 working days of the date of the Notice of Collection:

• Record of appeal.
• Appellant's submissions.

How to prepare the documents

The record of appeal should include a copy each of the:

• Notice of Appeal.
• Record of proceedings.
• Affidavits of Evidence-in-Chief.
• Documents in the nature of pleadings.
  • These may include the Statement of Claim, Defence, Reply, Counterclaim or Defence to Counterclaim.
• Judgment or order you are appealing against.

Note: You should also include any other documents that are relevant to the matter or the nature of the appeal.

The appellant's submissions should include:

• Circumstances out of which the appeal arises.
• Issues arising in the appeal.
• Your contentions (arguments) for the appeal and the authorities (relevant cases, statutes, subsidiary legislation and other materials) that support your arguments.
• Reasons for the appeal.

Refer to Paragraph 125 of the FJC Practice Directions for more information.