Darrell Glen Ford v. Araceli P. Ford

Opinion

Order filed October 13, 2020

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals ____________

NO. 14-20-00651-CV ____________

DARRELL GLEN FORD, Appellant

V.

ARACELI P. FORD, Appellee

On Appeal from the County Court at Law Grimes County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 3828

ORDER

This is an appeal from a judgment signed June 19, 2020. Appellant filed a timely post-judgment motion extending appellate timetables. The notice of appeal was due September 17, 2020. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. Appellant, however, filed his notice of appeal on September 22, 2020, a date within 15 days of the due date for the notice of appeal. A motion for extension of time is necessarily implied when the perfecting instrument is filed within 15 days of its due date. Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). Appellant did not file a motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal. While an extension may be implied, appellant is obligated to come forward with a reasonable explanation to support the late filing. See Miller v. Greenpark Surgery Center Assocs., Ltd., 974 S.W.2d 805, 808 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1998, no pet.).

Accordingly, we ORDER appellant to file a proper motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal on or before 10 days after the date of this order. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3; 10.5(b). If appellant does not comply with this order, we will dismiss the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3.

Panel Consists of Justices Spain, Hassan, and Poissant.