Health,
I am B”H happily married to an awesome woman! I have friends who are divorced that were hurt by Batei Din and I have lost money to and been threatened by unscrupulous Dayanim.
You said,
“I don’t know how much you know about law, esp. in the family arena, but for an appeal to be successful you need either the Judge broke some law or a change of circumstance.”
There is a Law that can be broken in secular court. Not so in a B”D. When you sign that Shtar Berurin you literally give the Dayanim the right to do whatever they want. They do not even have to explain their decision to anyone! It is crazy to expect-let alone demand-that people give anyone that right when it comes to anything of theirs,let alone children.
Now In the event that you have proof of Judicial misconduct from a B”D and move to have the Award vacated in secular court, you will get threatened, your children get threatened, rumors will be spread about you and the B”D will do whatever they possibly can to stop you. This I have experienced.