Court Opinion

ID: 9926592
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-25 13:16:06.696479+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:21:34.273549
License: Public Domain

In The
                                  Court of Appeals
                         Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo

                                           No. 07-23-00440-CV

                      IN THE INTEREST OF K.Q. AND K.O., CHILDREN

                         On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 2
                                    Randall County, Texas
             Trial Court No. 82392-L2, Honorable Matthew C. Martindale, Presiding

                                           January 23, 2024
                       ORDER OF ABATEMENT AND REMAND
                        Before PARKER and DOSS and YARBROUGH, JJ.

        Appellant, M.Q., appeals from the trial court’s order terminating her parental rights

to her children, K.Q. and K.O.1 The final hearing in this matter was held before associate

judge, the Honorable Jack Graham, on November 13, 2023. Following the hearing, M.Q.

timely filed a request for de novo review. Judge Graham signed the Order of Termination

on November 21, 2023. However, on November 28, 2023, prior to a de novo hearing, the

referring court judge, the Honorable Matthew C. Martindale, also signed the Order of

Termination. It is unclear from the record whether the referring court intended to adopt

        1 To protect the privacy of the parties involved, we refer to them by their initials.   See TEX. FAM.
CODE ANN. § 109.002(d); TEX. R. APP. P. 9.8(b).
the Order of Termination as the final order on November 28, 2023. See TEX. FAM. CODE

ANN. §§ 201.014, 201.015, 201.2041 (concerning a referring court’s action on an

associate judge’s order). Nonetheless, M.Q. filed a notice of appeal on November 30,

2023. While the appeal was pending, a de novo hearing was held on January 3 and 4,

2024, before the Honorable Dan L. Schaap, sitting by assignment. Judge Schaap signed

an Order of Termination Following De Novo Hearing on January 10, 2024.

        Because we are unable to determine whether the referring court intended to sign

a final order prior to the de novo hearing, we abate the appeal and remand the cause to

the trial court for further proceedings. See Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191,

206 (Tex. 2001) (“If the appellate court is uncertain about the intent of the order, it can

abate the appeal to permit clarification by the trial court.”). On remand, the referring court

shall enter findings clarifying whether it intended the Order of Termination signed on

November 28, 2023, to be its final order. Due to the time-sensitive nature of an appeal

from a parental termination order, the trial court shall cause a supplemental clerk’s record

including its findings on the matter to be filed with the Clerk of this Court by February 2,

2024.    All appellate deadlines, including the deadline to file Appellant’s brief, are

suspended until reinstatement of the appeal.

                                                         Per Curiam

                                              2