In the Interest of T.M., a Child v. the State of Texas
This text of In the Interest of T.M., a Child v. the State of Texas (In the Interest of T.M., a Child v. the State of Texas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Opinion
In the Court of Appeals Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana
No. 06-25-00097-CV
IN THE INTEREST OF T.M., A CHILD
On Appeal from the 303rd District Court Dallas County, Texas Trial Court No. DF-18-15345
Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice van Cleef MEMORANDUM OPINION This case involves a suit affecting the parent-child relationship.1 On August 4, 2025,
pro se Appellant filed a notice of appeal indicating her intent to appeal from a final judgment
signed by the trial court on August 1, 2025. After reviewing the clerk’s record, the Court was
unable to locate an appealable judgment or order signed by the trial court on August 1 or any
other date. “We cannot exercise appellate jurisdiction without a written final judgment or
appealable interlocutory order.” Williams v. Atmos Energy Corp., No. 05-25-00662-CV, 2025
WL 2607677, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas Sept. 9, 2025, no pet.) (mem. op.) (citing Nat’l Judgment
Recovery Ctr. v. Sweet, No. 05-17-01379-CV, 2018 WL 1101373, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas
Mar. 1, 2018, no pet.) (mem. op.)).
By letter dated October 15, 2025, we notified Appellant of the apparent defect in our
jurisdiction and afforded her the opportunity to demonstrate proper grounds for our retention of
the appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3. We warned Appellant that if we did not receive an
adequate response by November 4, 2025, we would have no choice but to dismiss her appeal.
Although Appellant filed a timely response to our letter, it did not include a satisfactory
explanation as to how this Court had jurisdiction over her appeal.
Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.
Charles van Cleef Justice
Date Submitted: November 5, 2025 Date Decided: November 6, 2025
1 Originally appealed to the Fifth Court of Appeals, this case was transferred to this Court by the Texas Supreme Court pursuant to its docket equalization efforts. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 73.001 (Supp.). 2
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