Background
John Darrell West and Terry Lynn West appealed from a proceeding in Harris County Probate Court No. 1 involving Nasreen Naqvi. In December 2025, the First Court of Appeals stayed the appeal after the parties jointly moved to abate it while they pursued settlement.
In September 2026, the parties submitted a joint status report and motion to dismiss. They represented that they had fully executed a settlement agreement, delivered the settlement payment, and nonsuited the trial-court matter.
The Court’s Holding
The court reinstated the appeal on its active docket, granted the parties’ joint motion, and dismissed the appeal under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 43.2(f). It also dismissed all pending motions as moot.
The court did not address the merits of the underlying dispute. It noted that no opinion had previously issued and cited Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 42.1(c).
Key Takeaways
- A fully executed settlement may support dismissal of a pending appeal upon the parties’ joint request.
- The court reinstated the previously stayed appeal before formally dismissing it.
- The dismissal resolved no substantive legal issue, and all remaining motions became moot.
Why It Matters
The disposition illustrates the procedural steps used when parties settle during an appellate stay: they notify the appellate court, request dismissal, and document that the settlement and related trial-court proceedings have been completed.
Because the court issued no merits ruling, the dismissal creates no appellate holding on the parties’ underlying dispute.