In the Interest of C.H., T.H. and S.H., Children

Summary

The Texas Court of Appeals for the Seventh District abated an accelerated appeal from an order terminating both parents' parental rights to three children. The court remanded the case to the trial court for entry of findings of fact and conclusions of law concerning the statutory grounds for termination and directed that the appeal be reinstated upon filing of a supplemental clerk's record.

Holdings

1. The appeal should be abated and remanded to the trial court for entry and filing of findings of fact and conclusions of law because the mother timely requested them, timely filed a notice of past-due findings, and the trial court failed to file them; the appellee did not oppose abatement, and the transferred case implicated an Austin Court of Appeals precedent concerning alternatively phrased endangerment findings.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the accelerated termination appeal should be abated and remanded when the mother timely requested findings of fact and conclusions of law, filed a notice of past-due findings, and the trial court failed to file them.
2. Whether the trial court should be directed to clarify the factual bases for its termination ruling through findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Disposition

remanded