Opinion
04-24-00191-CV
06-27-2024
IN THE ESTATE OF MITCHELL BOYD WILSON, DECEASED
From the County Court, Edwards County, Texas Trial Court No. 1171 Honorable Polly Jackson Spencer, Judge Presiding
ORDER
IRENE RIOS, JUSTICE
This is an appeal from a probate proceeding. On March 12, 2024, appellant filed a notice of appeal stating she wished to appeal "the Final Judgment recited by the Court on February 16, 2024[.]" On April 1, 2024, appellee filed a motion to dismiss this appeal and a request for sanctions, arguing that the trial court had not signed a final judgment or appealable order and this court therefore lacked jurisdiction over the appeal. Appellee also filed two supplements to his motion and a reply in support of the motion.
On April 12, 2024, appellant filed a response to appellee's motion. Appellant explains that the trial court orally announced the challenged ruling on the record and repeated that ruling in an e-mail to counsel. She appears to concede, however, that the trial court did not sign a written judgment or appealable order. Appellant contends that she filed the notice of appeal "to secure [her] appellate rights no matter the determined date of the signing of final judgment as rendered orally by the trial court on February 16, 2024."
The two-volume clerk's record was filed in this court on May 16, 2024. The record does not contain a written final judgment or appealable interlocutory order. See CMH Homes v. Perez, 340 S.W.3d 444, 447 (Tex. 2011). Additionally, while "[p]robate proceedings are an exception to the 'one final judgment' rule," the record also does not appear to contain any written orders that "dispose of all issues in the phase of the proceeding" of which the order "may logically be considered a part." De Ayala v. Mackie, 193 S.W.3d 575, 578 (Tex. 2006); In re Est. of Ruiz, No. 04-22-00650-CV, 2023 WL 242735, at *2 (Tex. App.-San Antonio Jan. 18, 2023, no pet.) (mem. op.). In response to an inquiry from this court, the trial court clerk confirmed on June 5, 2024 that the trial court has not signed a final judgment.
"This Court's jurisdiction is limited to appeals in which there exists a final judgment or other appealable order that has been signed by a judge." Cobb v. Campbell, No. 03-20-00453-CV, 2020 WL 6269270, at *1 (Tex. App.-Austin Oct. 22, 2020) (per curiam) (order & mem. op.). Nevertheless, we may treat the notice of appeal as prematurely filed and allow appellant time to present this court with a supplemental clerk's record that includes an appealable order or judgment. See id. at *1, n.1; see also Tex. R. App. P. 27.1(a).
We therefore ABATE this appeal and REMAND this cause to the trial court. See Cobb, 2020 WL 6269270, at *2. We ORDER appellant to ensure that a supplemental clerk's record with an appealable judgment or order is filed in this court by July 17, 2024. If appellant fails to cure the jurisdictional defect as ordered, we will reinstate this appeal and dismiss it for want of jurisdiction without further notice. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a). All other appellate deadlines are suspended until further order of this court.