Opinion
01-23-00312-CV
01-11-2024
ALLISON DICKSON, Appellant v. ASHLEY DICKSON SMITH, Appellee
On Appeal from the Probate Court No. 4 Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 504877
Panel consists of Justices Kelly, Landau, and Farris.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Peter Kelly Justice
This appeal is about which of two adult daughters should be responsible for the care and finances of their elderly mother, Johnnie Dickson, who has dementia. After this appeal was submitted, the Court became aware of the death of appellant Allison Dickson.
Ordinarily, "[i]f a party to a civil case dies after the trial court renders judgment but before the case has been finally disposed of on appeal, the appeal may be perfected, and the appellate court will proceed to adjudicate the appeal as if all parties were alive." TEX. R. APP. P. 7.1. But "Rule 7.1 does not dispense with the actual-controversy requirement, and generally an appeal will be allowed to proceed after an appellant's death only if the judgment affects appellant's property, as opposed to personal rights." Matter of J. J. H., 546 S.W.3d 765, 765-66 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2018, no pet.); see In re C.H.S., No. 07-17-00117-CV, 2017 WL 6614508, at *1 (Tex. App.-Amarillo Dec. 20, 2017, no pet.) (mem. op.) (dismissing as moot appellant's issues concerning only personal rights and not property rights following appellant's death).
The Court informed the parties of its intent to dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction, and it gave the parties ten days from the date of the order to file a response explaining why the Court should not dismiss the appeal. More than ten days have passed, and no response has been filed.
Because the appeal affected only personal rights, we conclude that we lack jurisdiction, and we dismiss the appeal. All pending motions are dismissed as moot.