In the Interest of T.U., a Child v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: March 7, 2024
• Docket: 02-24-00057-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________ No. 02-24-00057-CV ___________________________

IN THE INTEREST OF T.U., A CHILD

On Appeal from the 467th District Court Denton County, Texas Trial Court No. 19-11831-462

Before Womack, Wallach, and Walker, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice Womack MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant M.U. (Father) attempts to appeal from the trial court’s November 7,

2023 “Order on Motion to Strike, Order on Special Exceptions, and Order on Motion

for Enforcement” (collectively the Order). Because Father timely filed a request for

findings of fact and conclusions of law, his notice of appeal was due February 5,

2024—ninety days after the Order was signed. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a)(4). But

Father did not file his notice of appeal until February 7, 2024, making it untimely. See

id.

On February 13, 2024, we notified the parties by letter of our concern that we

lack jurisdiction over this appeal because the notice of appeal was untimely. See id.

We warned that we could dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction unless Father or

any party desiring to continue the appeal filed a response by February 23, 2024,

showing a reasonable explanation for the late filing of the notice of appeal. See Tex.

R. App. P. 10.5(b), 26.3(b), 42.3(a). We have received no response.

The time for filing a notice of appeal is jurisdictional in this court, and without

a timely filed notice of appeal or a timely filed extension request, we must dismiss the

appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 25.1(b), 26.1, 26.3; Jones v. City of Houston, 976 S.W.2d 676,

677 (Tex. 1998); Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). Because Father’s

notice of appeal was untimely, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction. See

Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f); 2M Rsch. Servs., LLC v. Pragmatic Fin., LLC, No. 02-

22-00239-CV, 2022 WL 4105415, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Sept. 8, 2022, no

2 pet.) (mem. op.) (“Because Appellants did not timely file a notice of appeal, we

dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.”).

/s/ Dana Womack

Dana Womack Justice

Delivered: March 7, 2024