Opinion
04-21-00440-CV
10-26-2021
IN THE INTEREST OF E.A.T. JR. AND E.A.T., Children,
From the 224th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2020-PA-01457 The Honorable Kimberly Burley, Judge Presiding
ORDER
Beth Watkins, Justice
The trial court signed a final appealable order on September 18, 2021. Because this is an accelerated appeal, the notice of appeal was due by October 8, 2021. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(b). A motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal was due by October 25, 2021. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3. Appellant filed his notice of appeal on October 11, 2021- within the time allowed for filing a motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal.
A motion for extension of time is necessarily implied when an appellant, acting in good faith, files a notice of appeal beyond the time allowed by Rule 26.1 but within the fifteen-day grace period provided by Rule 26.3 for filing a motion for extension of time. See Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997) (construing the predecessor to Rule 26). But "once the period for granting a motion for extension of time under Rule [26.3] has passed, a party can no longer invoke the appellate court's jurisdiction." Id.
Because the notice of appeal was untimely filed but within the fifteen-day grace period, we ORDER appellant to file a response presenting a reasonable explanation for failing to file the notice of appeal in a timely manner by November 5, 2021. If appellant fails to respond within the time provided, the appeal will be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(c). All other appellate deadlines are suspended until further order of this court.