Opinion
NO. 01-19-00698-CV
11-14-2019
JASON DUNAWAY, Appellant v. JOY RENEA PHILLIPS, Appellee
On Appeal from the County Court at Law Waller County, Texas
Trial Court Case No. 11-06-20941
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant's attorney has filed a motion to dismiss this appeal following appellant's death shortly after filing the notice of appeal. Ten days have passed without a response. TEX. R. APP. P. 10.3(a). No opinion has issued. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.1(c).
An appeal is moot when an actual controversy ceases to exist and a court's action on the merits cannot affect the rights of the parties. Zipp v. Wuemling, 218 S.W.3d 71, 73 (Tex. 2007); Olson v. Comm'n for Lawyer Discipline, 901 S.W.2d 520, 522 (Tex. App.—El Paso 1995, no writ) (citations omitted). This Court has well established that "a party's death may moot certain of the issues between the parties, unless property rights are affected." E.g., Murphy v. Murphy, 21 S.W.3d 797, 798 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2000, no pet.) (citing Olson, 901 S.W.2d at 523-24).
Appellant's motion states, "This appeal addressed no property rights, and was solely about the right of visitation of the child who was the subject of the suit . . . " Our review of the record on appeal indicates that the appealed order denied appellant's motion to modify temporary orders regarding custody, possession, and visitation of a child, and did not involve any property rights. Thus, appellant's death ends the controversy over appellant's child-custody rights, and the appeal is therefore moot.
Accordingly, we grant appellant's motion and dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction as moot. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.1(a), 43.2(f). We dismiss any pending motions as moot.
PER CURIAM Panel consists of Justices Keyes, Goodman, and Countiss.