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NUMBER 13-05-610-CV
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG
IN THE INTEREST OF A.C.A. AND A.D.A., CHILDREN
On appeal from the 156th District Court of San Patricio County, Texas.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Justices Hinojosa, Yañez, and Garza
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Garza
Crystal McCauley-McClure has filed an appeal from the termination of her parental rights to her minor children, A.C.A. and A.D.A. Section 263.405(a) of the Texas Family Code makes parental‑termination appeals subject to the procedures provided in that section. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 263.405(a) (Vernon Supp. 2005). Section 263.405(b) of the family code requires an appellant to file, not later than the fifteenth day after a final order is signed, a statement Aof the point or points on which the party intends to appeal.@ See id. ' 263.405(b). The record before us contains no statement of points to be raised on appeal. No such statement, either standing alone or within the notice of appeal, motion for new trial, or amended notice of appeal exists.[1]
Furthermore, the Legislature added a new subsection, effective for appeals filed after September 1, 2005, which provides:
The appellate court may not consider any issue that was not specifically presented to the trial court in a timely filed statement of the points on which the party intends to appeal or in a statement combined with a motion for new trial. For purposes of this subsection, a claim that a judicial decision is contrary to the evidence or that the evidence is factually or legally insufficient is not sufficiently specific to preserve an issue for appeal.
Id. ' 263.405(i). Here, the judgment was entered on September 2, 2005, and the notice of appeal was filed on September 13, 2005. Appellant=s motion for new trial states that Athe evidence was factually and legally insufficient to support the Judgment.@
Failure to comply with section 263.405 does not deprive this Court of jurisdiction over the appeal. See In re T.A.C.W., 143 S.W.3d 249, 250‑51 (Tex. App.BSan Antonio 2004, no pet.); In re S.J.C., 124 S.W.3d 237, 243 (Tex. App.BFort Worth 2003, pet. denied); In re M.G.D., 108 S.W.3d 508, 516 (Tex. App.BHouston [14th Dist.] 2003, no pet.). However, in a situation such as this, where no statement of points exists and the statement included in the motion for new trial is insufficient to preserve the issue for appeal, under the express terms of the statute, there is no contention of error that can be raised that we may consider on appeal. See In re J.M.S., No. 06‑05‑00139‑CV, 2005 Tex. App. LEXIS 10524 (Tex. App.BTexarkana, Dec. 20, 2005).
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
We note that The Department of Family and Protective Services filed a motion to dismiss. The motion to dismiss, previously carried with the case, is hereby dismissed as moot.
_______________________
DORI CONTRERAS GARZA,
Justice
Memorandum Opinion delivered and
filed this the 4th day of May, 2006.
[1] Appellant=s amended notice of appeal, which merely states that appellant wishes to appeal the order of termination, was filed on December 5, 2005. Appellee suggests the amended notice of appeal was untimely filed; however, given the disposition of our appeal, we do not express an opinion on the timeliness of the amended notice. See Tex. R. App. P. 47.1.