An appea l f rom a termination order is a cce lerated, and the notice of appea l must be filed 1 within twenty

day s of the sig ning of

the orde r. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 263.405(a) (West Supp. 20 05 ); Te x. R. A

pp . P. 26 .1 (b ). Al tho ug h ap pe lla nt did no t file a

mot ion fo r a n e xten sio n o f t ime to f ile her notice of appea l, w e may consider he r notice of

appea l as an implied motion. See H one v . H an afi n , 104 S.W .3d 884, 886 (Tex. 2003). 

### TEXA S C OU R T OF A PPEAL S, THIR D DIST R ICT , AT AU STIN

NO. 03-05-00656- CV

F r anc e s Bo yd, App e lla nt

v. Texas Depart m ent of Fam ily and P rote ctive Service s, Appellee

F ROM THE DISTRICT CO URT OF HAY S COUNTY , 274TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT NO. 2003- 0606 , HO NORAB LE RONALD G. CA RR, JUDGE P RESIDING

M E M O R

A N D U M O P I N I O N Appellee the Texas Depar tment of Fa

mily and Protec tive Service s has filed a motion to dismi ss the appeal or, in the alternative, t o abate the appe al for de terminations of indig ence and g ro un ds fo r a

pp e a l. We ov e rr

ule the mot ion

to d ism iss and

g ra nt t he mot ion

to a bate the a pp e a l. The trial c ourt signe d its final order te rminating appella n t ’s rig hts to her son on Oc t o b er 19, 2004. I n the orde r, the trial c ourt hand-w rote a provision discharg ing a

ppellant’s
a p p o i n t e d c o u n s e l
. A p p e l l an tf i l e d h e r n o t i c e o f a p p e a l o nN o v e mb e r

1 8 , m o r e t h ant w e n t y d a ys
a ft e r t he or de r w a s si g ne d bu t w ith in t he fi ft e e n- da

y wi nd owfo r o bta ini ngan e xten sio n o f t ime to file a notice of appea l. This Court did not rec eive appellant’s noti ce of appea l until October 5, 2005, 1Appellant has f iled a letter

with this C ourt, stating that she has be en try ing to f ind an 2 attorney to repre sent her on a

ppeal. She f

urther states that she was not informed of the pr eliminary statutory require ments for a

n appea l by the t rial court or by her attorney when he withdrew a

nd that documents assoc iated with her appea l continued to be sent to trial counse l for some time af ter she filed her notice of a

ppeal. She state s that she is attempting to be come familiar with the family code and a pp e llate ru le s so that sh e may pr op e rl y pr os e c ute he r a

pp e a l. I n a su it s uc h a s this on e , a

n in dig e nt p are nt h a s th e ri g ht t o a pp oin te d c ouns e l. T e x. F a m. 3 Code Ann. § 107.013 (West Supp. 2005). Although the statute g overning appointed counse l does not expressly

provide for

appellate counsel, we ag ree with the Waco court of a ppeals that a

n indige nt pare nt’s “rig hts would not be adequa tely protec ted if [she] , whose pare ntal rig hts were in jeopardy of beingterminated, w as re quired t o p u rs u e an appea l without an attorney .” In re T.V. , 8 S.W .3d 448, 449-50 (Te x . App.—Waco 1999, orig . proce eding ). 2 when it wa s sent to this C ourt as par t of the cle rk’s re cord. A

ppellant has infor

med this Court that she was not a

war e until De cembe r 8 that corr espondenc e related to he r appea l w as continuing to be
se nt t o h e r t

ri a l c ouns e l. Ap pe lla

nt h a s ma de it c le ar t

hat sh e wi sh e s to pr oc e e d w ithhe r a pp e a l. 2 The re co rd does not ref

lect that appe llant filed in the trial cour t a statement of the points on which she intends to appea l, an af fidavit of indig ence , or a motion for new tria l. See T e x. Fam. Code Ann. § 263.405(b) ( West S upp. 2005) (g overningappea ls from termination orde rs). Howeve r, neither

does the re cord show that the trial court a ppointed an at t o rn ey

to repre sent appellant on a

ppeal or held a

hear ing to de termine whe ther a ppellant was indig ent or whe ther the 3 appea l was fr ivolous. Se e id . § 263.405(d), ( e).

We t he re fo re ov e rr

ule the De pa

rtme nt’ s mo tio n to dis mis s and g ra nt i ts m oti on

to
a bate the a

pp e a l. We a

bate the c a

us e to t he tr ia l c ourt

wi th i ns tr

uc tio ns to h old

a he ari ngto deter mine whether

appellant is indig ent and in ne ed of a ppointed counsel, a s well as other require d deter minations under the fa

mily code. Se e id . §§ 107.013, 263.405 (West Supp. 2005).3 T h e t ri al co u rt i s o rd er ed t o fo rw ar d a re co rdo f t h e h ea ri n g, i n cl u d i n g an y fi n d i n gs of fa c t and

c on c lus ion s o f l aw, to t

his Cou rt wi thi n 6 0 d ay s o f t

he date of thi s o rd e r. I f a

pp e lla nt i s entitled to and desire s appointed counse l, the t rial court shall make that appointment and inform her attorney that the brief

is due within such time as th e t ri al court determines is appropr iate for the circ umstances, but no later than 25 day s after

the trial cour

t’s hear ing.

__________________________________________ David Pury ear , J ustice Be fore Chief J ustice L aw, Justi ces B . A. Smith and Pury ear Filed: January

25, 2006