Background
K.N.L. a/k/a K.N.M., acting without counsel, sought to appeal a final order signed by the trial court on October 14, 2025. She filed her original notice of appeal on July 7, 2026, and an amended notice the following day after the court clerk notified her that the appeal appeared untimely and that the original notice did not identify the date of the challenged judgment.
The appellant responded that the trial court’s final order was void and asserted that a void order may be challenged and appealed at any time. The appellate record did not reflect that she had filed a motion for new trial or another post-judgment motion that would have extended the appellate deadline.
The Court’s Holding
The Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. Because the final judgment was signed on October 14, 2025, the ordinary 30-day deadline made the notice of appeal due by November 13, 2025. Even if a qualifying post-judgment motion had extended the deadline to 90 days, the notice would have been due by January 12, 2026. The notices filed in July 2026 were therefore untimely under either calculation.
The court rejected the argument that the judgment’s alleged voidness permitted an untimely direct appeal. Without deciding whether the final order was actually void, the court held that even an allegedly void order must be challenged through a timely notice of appeal. It also denied all pending motions as moot.
Key Takeaways
- A timely notice of appeal is a prerequisite to a Texas appellate court’s jurisdiction.
- The notice was untimely whether the applicable deadline was 30 days or the extended 90-day period available after certain post-judgment motions.
- Alleging that a trial court’s order is void does not permit a party to challenge that order through an untimely direct appeal.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores that jurisdictional appellate deadlines apply even when an appellant claims the underlying judgment is void. Litigants seeking direct appellate review must timely perfect their appeal; the asserted severity of the trial court’s error does not itself excuse a late notice.