NUMBER 13-16-00644-CV

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG

IN THE INTEREST OF L.L.O., A CHILD

On appeal from the 357th District Court 

of Cameron County, Texas.

ORDER OF ABATEMENT

Before Justices Rodriguez, Garza and Longoria

Order Per Curiam

Appellant, the Office of the Attorney General of Texas (“the AG”), appeals an order

reducing appellee E.O.’s child support obligation to $0.00 a month.1 This cause is before 

the Court on the AG’s Motion to Abate the Appeal for Findings of Fact and Conclusions 

of Law.

 

1 We use initials for the parent of the minor in an effort to protect the minor’s identity.
2

On August 30, 2016, the trial court issued its Order in Suit to Modify Child Support 

that reduced appellee’s child support obligation. The AG filed a request for findings of 

fact and conclusions of law on September 9, 2016. The trial court did not respond. The 

AG filed a notice of past due findings and conclusions on October 4, 2016. The AG now 

appeals the trial court’s judgment. In its motion to abate, the AG argues that given the 

circumstances of the case it is left to guess at the legal and factual reasons for the trial 

court’s judgment.

When properly requested, the trial court has a mandatory duty to file findings of fact 

and conclusions of law. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 296. The failure of the trial court to file 

findings and conclusions after a proper request is presumed harmful unless the record 

affirmatively shows that the complaining party suffered no injury. Tenery v. Tenery, 932 

S.W.2d 29, 30 (Tex. 1996) (per curiam). In this context, error is harmful if it is prevents 

an appellant from properly presenting a case to the appellate court. TEX. R. APP. P.

44.1(a)(2); see Tenery, 932 S.W.2d at 30. The test for harm is whether the 

circumstances of the case would require the appellant to guess at the reasons for the trial 

court’s decision. Nicholas v. Envtl. Sys. (Int'l) Ltd., 499 S.W.3d 888, 894 (Tex. App.—

Houston [14th Dist.] 2016, pet. denied); Sagemont Plaza Shopping ex rel. O'Connor & 

Associates, Inc. v. Harris County Appraisal Dist., 30 S.W.3d 425, 427 (Tex. App.—Corpus 

Christi 2000, pet. denied). 

The record reflects that the AG requested findings and conclusions within the 

twenty-day period allowed by rule, and filed a notice of past due findings and conclusions

within thirty days of filing the original request. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 296, 297. On 
3

reviewing the record, we find that the matters in question concerning the trial court’s 

modification of appellee’s child-support obligation are disputed, and the reasons for the 

trial court’s ruling are not obvious from the record. The trial court’s failure to file the 

requested findings of fact and conclusions of law therefore harmed the AG by preventing 

it from properly presenting the case to this Court. See TEX. R. APP. P. 44.1(a)(2). When 

harm results from the trial court’s failure to file findings and conclusions, the proper 

remedy is to abate the case for the trial court to correct its error pursuant to Texas Rule 

of Appellate Procedure 44.4(b). Busch v. Hudson & Keyse, LLC, 312 S.W.3d 294, 298 

(Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2010, no pet.); see TEX. R. APP. P. 44.4(b). We 

accordingly GRANT the AG’s motion, abate this appeal, and remand it so that the trial 

court can prepare and file findings of fact and conclusions of law. See TEX. R. APP. P.

44.4(b). The trial court shall cause its findings and conclusions to be included in a 

supplemental clerk’s record. The supplemental clerk’s record shall be filed with the Clerk 

of this Court within twenty days of the date of this order.

It is so ORDERED.

PER CURIAM

Delivered and filed the 

4th day of January, 2017.