Rule 46.Objecting to a ruling or order.

Older practice required a party to state a formal “exception” to a ruling to preserve it for appeal — a separate, almost ceremonial step on top of the objection itself. Rule 46 does away with that requirement. When a court makes or is asked to make a ruling, a party only needs to say what action it wants the court to take, or what it objects to, and why. That statement alone protects the party's right to raise the issue later.

The rule also protects parties who never had a fair chance to speak up. If a party had no opportunity to object when the ruling was made — because, for example, the court ruled without warning or outside the party's presence — the failure to object does not count against that party. This is a general rule; some situations, like objecting to jury instructions, have their own more specific timing requirements.