Luis A. Santiago and Linda A. Santiago, Appellants v. LLC (2015)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellants appeal the trial court's December 1, 2014 order granting a motion to clarify the parties' agreed order staying enforcement of the judgment.   Appellants filed their notice of appeal on March 13, 2015.   In a letter dated April 9, 2015, we questioned our jurisdiction over this appeal and instructed appellants to file a jurisdictional brief and gave appellees an opportunity to respond.

Appellants timely filed a request for findings of fact and conclusions of law, and filed their notice of appeal fifty-seven days after the order was signed.   Generally, a notice of appeal must be filed within thirty days of the appealed order.   See Tex.R.App. P. 26.1.   A timely request for findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 296, however, will extend the time to file a notice of appeal to ninety days if findings of fact and conclusions of law either are required by the Rules of Civil Procedure or, if not required, could properly be considered by the appellate court.   See Tex.R.App. P. 26.1(a)(4).   Appellees contend the request for findings of fact and conclusions of law here did not extend the appellants' deadline.   We agree.

Rule 296 does not apply to post-judgment hearings.   See Johnson v. J.W. Construction Co., 717 S.W.2d 464, 467–68 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1986, no writ).   Appellants made the request for findings of fact and conclusions of law following a trial court's order on a post-judgment motion.   Findings of fact and conclusions of law are not relevant in this context.   See id.   For this reason, the request for findings of fact and conclusions of law did not extend the time for filing a notice of appeal, and the notice of appeal is untimely.

The timely filing of a notice of appeal is jurisdictional.   See Tex.R.App. P. 25.1(b).  Because the notice of appeal here was filed late, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.   See Tex.R.App. P. 42.3(a).

Opinion by Chief Justice Wright