Ezekiel Keith v. Nikki Keith

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals, 4th District (San Antonio)
• Decided: February 18, 2026
• Docket: 04-26-00017-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Fourth Court of Appeals San Antonio, Texas MEMORANDUM OPINION No. 04-26-00017-CV

Ezekiel KEITH, Appellant

v.

Nikki KEITH, Appellee

From the 45th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2020-CI-20274 Honorable Mary Lou Alvarez, Judge Presiding

PER CURIAM

Sitting: Adrian A. Spears II, Justice H. Todd McCray, Justice Velia J. Meza, Justice

Delivered and Filed: February 18, 2026

DISMISSED

On January 6, 2026, appellant filed a notice of appeal stating his intent to appeal a judgment

rendered on December 22, 2025. Although the clerk’s record indicates a final hearing was held on

December 22, 2025, it does not contain a written judgment.

“To be appealable, a judgment or order must be written and signed by the trial court.” In

re M.R.G., No. 04-17-00623-CV, 2017 WL 4938422, at *1 (Tex. App.—San Antonio Nov. 1,

2017, no pet.); see TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1 (providing the appellate timetable runs from the date the 04-26-00017-CV

judgment or order is signed). “An oral ruling, not reduced to writing and signed by the trial court,

is not a final or otherwise appealable judgment or order.” See In re M.R.G., 2017 WL 4938422, at

*1. This court is not required to hold an appeal open until there is an appealable judgment at some

future date. Id. When there is no appealable judgment or order, we are authorized to dismiss the

appeal. Id.

Because it appeared that no written judgment had been signed in the underlying case, we

issued an order directing appellant to show cause in writing, on or before February 6, 2026, why

this appeal should not be dismissed. We warned that if appellant did not satisfactorily respond by

the deadline, this appeal would be dismissed. Appellant did not respond. Accordingly, this appeal

is dismissed. See In re M.R.G., 2017 WL 4938422, at *1; see also TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(c).

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