Lauren W. Meuth v. Adam W. Meuth ( 2019 )

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN
NO. 03-18-00860-CV
Lauren W. Meuth, Appellant
v.
Adam W. Meuth, Appellee
FROM THE COUNTY COURT AT LAW OF BASTROP COUNTY
NO. 14-16533, BONNIE CRANE HELLUMS, JUDGE PRESIDING
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellee Adam W. Meuth filed a motion to dismiss asserting that appellant
Lauren W. Meuth’s appeal is untimely and should be involuntarily dismissed for want of
jurisdiction.
On December 26, 2018, appellant Lauren W. Meuth filed a notice of appeal from
“the appealable order” signed by the trial court on September 25, 2018. The trial court’s
September 25, 2018 order is a final judgment in a suit to modify and terminate the parent-child
relationship. Appellant timely filed a motion for new trial on October 24, 2018. See Tex. R.
Civ. P. 329b. However, this is an accelerated appeal because it involves the termination of the
parent-child relationship. See Tex. Fam. Code § 109.002(a-1). Therefore, filing a motion for
new trial does not extend appellant’s deadline for filing a notice of appeal. See Tex. R. App.
P.26.1(b). In an accelerated case, that deadline is 20 days after the judgment was signed, making
appellant’s deadline October 15, 2018.1 See id.
That deadline might have been extended until October 30, 2018, if appellant had
filed either a notice of appeal with the trial court or a motion for extension of time with this
Court within 15 days after the deadline for filing the notice of appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3;
Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617-18 (Tex. 1997) (“[O]nce the period for granting a
motion for extension of time under Rule 41(a)(2) [now Rule 26.3] has passed, a party can
no longer invoke the appellate court’s jurisdiction.”). Appellant did not file either document
within the 15-day extension period, and we cannot imply a motion for extension of time
because she filed her notice of appeal beyond the 15-day extension period. See Naaman v.
Grider, 126 S.W.3d 73, 74 (Tex. 2003) (per curiam) (citing Tex. R. App. P. 26.3; Verburgt,
959 S.W.2d at 615).
Appellant’s December 27, 2018 notice of appeal is thus untimely, and we lack
jurisdiction over this appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 25.1(b) (providing that filing notice of appeal
invokes appellate court’s jurisdiction), id. R. 2 (establishing that appellate court may not alter
time for perfecting appeal in civil case). Accordingly, we grant appellee’s motion and dismiss
the appeal for want of jurisdiction. See id. R. 42.3(a).
1
Although appellee contends that appellant’s notice of appeal is untimely because it was not
filed within 20 days of the trial court’s order denying appellant’s motion for new trial, we note
that the deadline for filing a notice of appeal does not run from the date of the denial of the
motion for new trial, but rather from the date of the signing of the final judgment on September
25, 2018. See, e.g., Mulhall v. Anderson, No. 01-16-00067-CV, 2016 WL 6087691, at *1 (Tex.
App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Oct. 18, 2016, no pet.) (per curiam) (mem. op.); Powell v. Linh
Nutrition Programs, Inc., No. 01-03-00919-CV, 2005 WL 375334, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston
[1st Dist.] Feb. 17, 2005, no pet.) (mem. op.) (citing Naaman v. Grider, 126 S.W.3d 73, 74 (Tex.
2003) (per curiam)).
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__________________________________________
Melissa Goodwin, Justice
Before Justices Goodwin, Baker, and Triana
Dismissed for Want of Jurisdiction
Filed: January 25, 2018
3