Opinion
NO. 14-18-00529-CV
07-10-2018
IN THE INTEREST OF S.J.N., AND R.L.N., CHILDREN
On Appeal from the 314th District Court Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 2017-03363J
ORDER
This is an accelerated appeal from a judgment in a suit in which the termination of the parent-child relationship is at issue. The judgment was signed May 24, 2018. The notice of appeal was due within 20 days, which was June 13, 2018. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(b), 28.4(a). Appellant S.N., however, filed his notice of appeal on June 25, 2018, a date within 15 days of the due date for the notice of appeal.
The notice of appeal states, "The order being appealed is entitled Decree for Termination dated June 6, 2018." No such decree signed on that date appears in the clerk's record. The record contains only one order signed June 6, 2018. It grants S.N.'s trial counsel's motion to withdraw and appoints appellate counsel.
A motion for extension of time is necessarily implied when the perfecting instrument is filed within 15 days of its due date. Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997). Appellant did not file a motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal. While an extension may be implied, appellant is still obligated to come forward with a reasonable explanation to support the late filing. See Miller v. Greenpark Surgery Center Assocs., Ltd., 974 S.W.2d 805, 808 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1998, no pet.).
Accordingly, we ORDER appellant S.N. to file a proper motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal by July 20 , 2018 . See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3, 10.5(b). If appellant does not comply with this order, we will dismiss the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3.
PER CURIAM