In the Guardianship of Monica Sixtos, an Incapacitated Person v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: June 8, 2023
• Docket: 02-23-00168-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________ No. 02-23-00168-CV ___________________________

IN THE GUARDIANSHIP OF MONICA SIXTOS, AN INCAPACITATED PERSON

On Appeal from Probate Court No. 2 Tarrant County, Texas Trial Court No. 2010-GD00395-2

Before Sudderth, C.J.; Kerr and Birdwell, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Sudderth MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Melissa Neystel attempts to appeal from a trial court order denying

her motion to appoint successor joint guardians of Monica Sixtos. But Neystel filed

her notice of appeal too late.

“[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” for want of jurisdiction. Lewis v. City of Fort Worth, No. 02-22-00411-CV,

2022 WL 17037420, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Nov. 17, 2022, no pet.) (mem.

op.) (quoting Manning v. Funimation, No. 02-22-00145-CV, 2022 WL 1573486, at *1

(Tex. App.—Fort Worth May 19, 2022, no pet.) (mem. op.)); Mitchell v. Estrada, No.

02-22-00005-CV, 2022 WL 1183342, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Apr. 21, 2022, no

pet.) (mem. op.); see Tex. R. App. P. 25.1(b). Generally, a notice of appeal must be

filed within 30 days after the appealable judgment or order is signed. Tex. R. App. P.

26.1. Or, if the appellant files a timely motion for new trial or other qualifying

postjudgment motion to extend the deadline, the notice of appeal must be filed within

90 days after the appealable judgment or order is signed.1 Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a).

Here, the trial court signed an order denying Neystel’s motion on December 6,

2022, but Neystel did not file a notice of appeal until May 15, 2023—more than 150

1 An appellant can also request a 15-day extension if the request is filed within 15 days after the deadline for the notice of appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3. Neystel did not request an extension, nor did she file her notice of appeal within 15 days of the deadline. Cf. Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997).

2 days later. Accordingly, we notified Neystel that her notice of appeal appeared

untimely, and we warned that we could dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction

unless she (or any other party) filed a response showing grounds for continuing the

appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 44.3.

Neystel responded by pointing to her timely motion for new trial, which

extended the deadline for her notice of appeal. But still she failed to show grounds

for continuing the appeal. Neystel’s motion for new trial extended her deadline only

until March 6, 2023, so her May 15 notice was still more than two months late. See

Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a); Manning, 2022 WL 1573486, at *1–2 (holding similarly when

appellant filed notice of appeal 270 days after judgment and responded to appellate

court’s jurisdictional notice by pointing to motion for new trial).

Because Neystel failed to file a timely notice of appeal and has not shown

grounds for continuing this appeal, we dismiss her appeal for want of jurisdiction. See

Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f); see Manning, 2022 WL 1573486, at *2 (holding similarly

when appellant filed untimely notice of appeal and failed to show grounds for

continuing appeal); In re Guardianship of White, No. 02-21-00300-CV, 2022 WL 488936,

at *2 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Feb. 17, 2022, no pet.) (mem. op.) (similar).

/s/ Bonnie Sudderth

Bonnie Sudderth Chief Justice

Delivered: June 8, 2023