California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Wagner v. Hankins (In re Marriage of Hankins), 2d Civil No. B204373 (Cal. App. 2008):
Hankins "has the burden of proof on appeal." (Pringle v. La Chapelle (1999) 73 Cal.App.4th 1000, 1003.) "A fundamental principle of appellate practice is that an appellant '"must affirmatively show error by an adequate record. . . . Error is never presumed. . . . 'A judgment or order of the lower court is presumed correct. All intendments and presumptions are indulged to support it on matters as to which the record is silent . . . .'"'" (Null v. City of Los Angeles (1988) 206 Cal.App.3d 1528, 1532.) Where the record is incomplete, we must presume that the trial court correctly relied on matters that are not before us. (Pringle, at p. 1003.)
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