Opinion
No. 04-18-00574-CV
08-30-2018
IN THE INTEREST OF H.N.H. AND H.J.H., CHILDREN
From the 451st Judicial District Court, Kendall County, Texas
Trial Court No. 15-179CCL
Honorable Bill R. Palmer, Judge Presiding
ORDER
Appellant Robert Joseph Heath appeals an Order in Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship signed on June 27, 2018. Appellant did not file a timely motion that would have extended the appellate timetable. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 329b(g); TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1(a). Therefore, the notice of appeal was due on July 27, 2018, or a motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal was due fifteen days later on August 13, 2018. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.1, 26.3. Appellant did not file a timely notice of appeal or a timely motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal. Rather, appellant filed a notice of appeal on August 8, 2018.
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 Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 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). However, the appellant must offer a reasonable explanation for failing to file the notice of appeal in a timely manner. See id.; TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3, 10.5(b)(1)(C).
We therefore ORDER appellant to file, on or before September 14, 2018 a response presenting a reasonable explanation for failing to file the notice of appeal in a timely manner. If appellant fails to respond within the time provided, the appeal will be dismissed. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(c).
/s/_________
Marialyn Barnard, Justice
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said court on this 30th day of August, 2018.
/s/_________
KEITH E. HOTTLE,
Clerk of Court