Court Opinion

ID: 9899133
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-15 22:09:51.067727+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:26.232371
License: Public Domain

11/15/2023
                  IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
                              AT NASHVILLE
                                       November 13, 2023

              IN RE: CONSERVATORSHIP OF JESSICA ABEYTA

                   Appeal from the Probate Court for Davidson County
                      No. 21P1345        Andra J. Hedrick, Judge
                        ___________________________________

                              No. M2023-00972-COA-R3-CV
                          ___________________________________

       This is an appeal from a final judgment in a conservatorship case. Because the
appellant did not file her notice of appeal with the clerk of the appellate court within thirty
days after entry of the final judgment as required by Tennessee Rule of Appellate
Procedure 4(a), we dismiss the appeal.

                 Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Appeal Dismissed

FRANK G. CLEMENT, JR., P.J., M.S., ANDY D. BENNETT, and JEFFREY USMAN, JJ.

Jessica Abeyta, Nashville, Tennessee, pro se.

April Lynn Harris Jackson, Hermitage, Tennessee, for the appellee, Carol Abeyta.

Barbara Morris Zoccola, Germantown, Tennessee, for the appellee, Conservatorship of
Jessica Abeyta.

                                 MEMORANDUM OPINION1

      Jessica Abeyta has filed a notice of appeal from an Order Amending
Conservatorship, Changing Special Needs Trustee and Addressing Attorney’s Fees entered
on May 31, 2023. Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a) requires that a notice of

        1
         A case designated as a memorandum opinion “shall not be published, and shall not be cited or
relied on for any reason in any unrelated case.” Tenn. Ct. App. R. 10.
appeal be filed with the clerk of the appellate court within thirty days after entry of the
judgment appealed. Ms. Abeyta did not file her notice of appeal until July 3, 2023, thirty-
three days after entry of the May 31, 2023 order. After reviewing the record, this Court
ordered Ms. Abeyta to show cause why her appeal should not be dismissed for failure to
file a timely notice of appeal. Ms. Abeyta failed to respond.

       The thirty-day time limit for filing a notice of appeal is mandatory and
jurisdictional. Albert v. Frye, 145 S.W.3d 526, 528 (Tenn. 2004); Binkley v. Medling, 117
S.W.3d 252, 255 (Tenn. 2003). This Court can neither waive nor extend the time period.
Tenn. R. App. P. 2 and 21(b); Flautt & Mann v. Council of City of Memphis, 285 S.W.3d
856, 868 at n.1 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2008); Jefferson v. Pneumo Servs. Corp., 699 S.W.2d 181,
184 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1985). The failure to file a timely notice of appeal deprives this Court
of jurisdiction to hear the matter. Flautt & Mann v. Council of City of Memphis, 285
S.W.3d at 869 at n.1.

      The appeal is dismissed for failure to file a timely notice of appeal. The case is
remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Jessica
Abeyta is taxed with the costs for which execution may issue.

                                                               PER CURIAM

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