Opinion
NO. 01-18-00014-CV
02-27-2018
IN THE INTEREST OF G.W. AND F.W.
On Appeal from the 313th District Court Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Case No. 2016-04109J
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This is an attempted appeal, by an intervenor, from an order of parental termination. We dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.
An appeal from a final order of parental termination is an accelerated appeal. See TEX. FAM. CODE § 263.405(a). As such, the notice of appeal was due within 20 days of the signing of the order. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(b).
The intervenor did not file her notice of appeal within 20 days of the December 6, 2017 final order. Instead, she filed her notice of appeal on January 5, 2018, 10 days after the notice of appeal was due. An appellate court may extend the time to file a notice of appeal if an appellant files a motion for extension within 15 days of the deadline for filing the notice of appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3. Though the intervenor did not file a motion for extension of time to file a notice of appeal, such a motion is implied when the notice is filed within the 15-day period after it is due—but a reasonable explanation must be provided for the need for an extension. See Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997).
This court issued an order advising that unless a reasonable explanation was provided for the untimely filing of the notice of appeal, the appeal might be dismissed. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(a), (c). The intervenor filed an amended notice of appeal, but she still provided no reasonable explanation for her untimely filing of the notice of appeal.
Accordingly we dismiss the appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(c). Any pending motions are dismissed as moot.
PER CURIAM Panel consists of Chief Justice Radack and Justices Massengale and Brown.