In the
Court of Appeals
Second Appellate District of Texas
at Fort Worth
___________________________
No. 02-20-00397-CV
___________________________
JUDY DELAGARZA AND THOMAS M. DELAGARZA, Appellants
V.
U.S. BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE OF THE CHALET
SERIES IV TRUST, Appellee
On Appeal from the 367th District Court
Denton County, Texas
Trial Court No. 14-04892-367
Before Sudderth, C.J.; Kerr and Birdwell, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Sudderth
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellee U.S. Bank Trust National Association, as Trustee of the Chalet Series
IV Trust, has filed a motion to dismiss the appeal of the trial court’s August 11, 2020
final judgment by Appellants Judy DeLaGarza and Thomas M. DeLaGarza. In its
motion, Appellee points out that Appellants’ late-filed notice of appeal deprives this
court of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a)(2) (requiring notice of appeal to be
filed within 90 days after judgment’s signing if any party timely files a motion to
modify the judgment); Cummings v. Billman, No. 02-20-00034-CV, 2020 WL 938172, at
*2 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Feb. 27, 2020, no pet.) (“A timely-filed notice of appeal is
required in order to invoke the appellate court’s jurisdiction.”).
Because Appellants filed a timely motion to modify the judgment, their notice
of appeal was due November 9, 2020. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a)(2). However, they
did not file their notice of appeal by that date. And they did not file their notice of
appeal by November 24, 2020, notwithstanding the fifteen-day extension of time that
is implied in civil cases. See Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997).
Appellants did not file their notice of appeal until December 9, 2020. On the same
day that they filed their notice of appeal, they also filed a late motion for extension of
time citing the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for the delay.
Once the period for granting a motion for an extension of time under Texas
Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.3 has passed, a party can no longer invoke the
appellate court’s jurisdiction. See id.; see also Twenty-First Emergency Order Regarding the
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Covid-19 State of Disaster, Misc. Docket No. 20-9091, ¶ 3 (Tex. July 31, 2020) (stating
that order’s extension of civil case deadlines “does not include deadlines for
perfecting appeal”); Eighteenth Emergency Order Regarding the Covid-19 State of Disaster,
Misc. Docket No. 20-9080, ¶ 11 (Tex. June 29, 2020) (same); Seventeenth Emergency
Order Regarding the Covid-19 State of Disaster, Misc. Docket No. 20-9071, ¶ 11 (Tex. May
26, 2020) (same); Twelfth Emergency Order Regarding the Covid-19 State of Disaster, Misc.
Docket No. 20-9059, ¶ 5 (Tex. Apr. 27, 2020) (same); Eighth Emergency Order Regarding
the Covid-19 State of Disaster, Misc. Docket No. 20-9051, ¶ 3 (Tex. Apr. 1, 2020)
(same).1 Accordingly, we grant Appellee’s motion and dismiss the appeal for want of
jurisdiction.
/s/ Bonnie Sudderth
Bonnie Sudderth
Chief Justice
Delivered: January 14, 2021
Electronic filing has been mandatory for all attorneys filing civil cases in the
1
courts of appeals since January 1, 2014—long before the COVID-19 pandemic. See
Amended Order Requiring Electronic Filing in Certain Courts, Misc. Docket No. 13-9164,
¶¶ 1–2 (Tex. Dec. 9, 2013).
3