In the Estate of Claude William Collins v. the State of Texas

Opinion

In the

Court of Appeals

Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth

___________________________

No. 02-24-00174-CV

___________________________

IN THE ESTATE OF CLAUDE WILLIAM COLLINS, DECEASED

On Appeal from Probate Court No. 1 Tarrant County, Texas

Trial Court No. 2021-PR04037-1

Before Birdwell, Bassel, and Womack, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice Birdwell

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Jason Collins’s notice of appeal is untimely.

Generally, a notice of appeal must be filed within thirty days after the

appealable judgment or order is signed.1 Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. “[T]he time for filing a

notice of appeal is jurisdictional in this court, and absent a timely[ ]filed notice of

appeal or timely[ ]filed motion for extension, we must dismiss the appeal.” In re

Guardianship of Fulbright, No. 02-16-00230-CV, 2016 WL 4395804, at *1 (Tex. App.—

Fort Worth Aug. 18, 2016, no pet.) (per curiam) (mem. op.); see Tex. R. App. P.

25.1(b).

Here, the probate court signed the challenged order on February 26, 2024, so

Appellant’s notice of appeal was due within thirty days, by March 27, 2024. See Tex.

R. App. P. 26.1. Appellant did not file his notice of appeal until April 16, 2024.

Consequently, we notified Appellant that his notice of appeal appeared

untimely, and we expressed our concern that we lacked jurisdiction over the appeal.2

1 If the appealing party files a motion for new trial or other qualifying postjudgment motion to extend the deadline, the notice of appeal must be filed within ninety days after the appealable judgment or order is signed. Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a). Additionally, an appellant can request a fifteen-day extension if the request is filed within fifteen days after the deadline for the notice of appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3. There is no indication that Appellant filed a qualifying postjudgment motion in this case, nor was Appellant’s notice of appeal filed within fifteen days after its deadline.

2 Although Appellant filed his notice of appeal pro se, his trial counsel has not filed a nonrepresentation notice. See Tex. R. App. P. 6.3(b), 6.4. Nonetheless, we sent notices expressing our jurisdictional concerns to both Appellant and his trial counsel.

3

We warned that we could dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction unless, within ten

days, Appellant (or any other party) filed a response showing grounds for continuing

it. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 44.3. More than a month has passed since then, and

we have not received a response.

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P.

42.3(a), 43.2(f).

/s/ Wade Birdwell

Wade Birdwell Justice

Delivered: July 3, 2024

When the notice mailed to Appellant was returned as undeliverable, we sent a second notice, and we contacted the probate court and Appellant’s trial counsel in an attempt to obtain additional contact information. Regardless, the notice sent to Appellant’s counsel was not returned as undeliverable, and Appellant has failed to provide this court with any updated contact information.