Opinion
NO. 14-19-01017-CV
01-30-2020
DAVID DWORACZYK AND MELINDA MORGAN, AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF EMERICK DWORACZYK, Appellant v. TOBY JONES, Appellee
On Appeal from the 155th District Court Austin County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 2018V-0112-A
ORDER
This is an appeal from a judgment signed September 10, 2019. The judgment became final on November 12, 2019, when the trial court signed an order of severance. The notice of appeal was due December 12, 2019. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1. Appellant, however, filed the notice of appeal on December 20, 2019, a date within 15 days of the due date for the notice of appeal. 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 to file a proper motion to extend time to file the notice of appeal on or before 10 days after the date of this order. 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 Panel consists of Justices Zimmerer, Spain, and Hassan.