Say you find yourself in need of a guardianship attorney. You end up litigating an issue related to the guardianship.
The court rules against you on some aspect of the case, and enters an order saying so. What rights do you have? Can you immediately appeal the order or do you have to wait until the court addresses all of the issues in the case?
The rules are not all that clear in this area. The recent case The Guardianship of Dalton, No. 02-25-00571-CV, provides an opportunity to consider when guardianship orders are appealable.
Facts & Procedural History
This case involves a husband, Dalton, who died. He was survived by hise spouse, Lezlie, and his nephew and niece, Kaleb and Kylie.
While Dalton was alive, Lezlie filed for divorce. Dalton filed a counterpetition in response.
In March 2023, Dalton’s divorce attorney sought the appointment of a guardian for Dalton based on a dementia diagnosis. The probate court appointed separate guardians: one for Dalton’s person and another for his estate. The court authorized the estate guardian to represent Dalton’s interests in the pending divorce proceedings.
In June 2025, through his estate guardian, Dalton entered into an irrevocable mediated settlement agreement (“MSA”) with Lezlie. The guardian asked the probate court to approve both the MSA and a proposed divorce decree.
On July 16, 2025, Dalton died. The next day, July 17, the probate court entered an order approving the MSA, apparently unaware of Dalton’s death the previous day.
Twelve days later, on July 29, the probate court set aside its July 17 approval order. Kaleb and Kylie filed a motion asking the probate court to reconsider the set-aside order and reinstate the approval of the MSA. The probate court denied their motion. Kaleb and Kylie then appealed.
The appeals court raised a jurisdictional issue in reviewing the case. On November 4, 2025, the appeals court notified the parties that it did not have jurisdiction because the July 29 order did not constitute a final judgment or an appealable interlocutory order.
The General Rules for Appeals in Texas
Texas follows a strict approach to appellate jurisdiction. The courts of appeals can only hear appeals from final judgments or from specific interlocutory orders authorized by statute.
This “finality” requirement prevents parties from appealing every adverse ruling during litigation. Instead, they usually have to wait until the trial court has completed its work on all aspects of the case.
This restriction is intended to prevent piecemeal appeals and encourages judicial efficiency by requiring parties to wait until the trial court has fully resolved the case before seeking appellate review.
So what is a final judgment? The short answer is that it is a judgment or order is considered final as it disposes of every pending claim and every party. It may also be final if it disposed of a particular phase of the proceeding.
For example, if a trial court grants summary judgment on one of three causes of action but leaves the other two pending, the summary judgment order is not final and cannot be appealed immediately. The losing party usually has to wait until the trial court resolves the remaining claims before filing an appeal.
Did the Set-Aside Order Conclude a Particular Phase of the Guardianship?
The appeals court focused on whether the July 29 order setting aside the MSA approval disposed of the guardianship proceeding or even a particular phase of the proceeding. As noted above, without a final order for all or a particular phase, the order would be merely interlocutory and not appealable until the entire guardianship proceeding concluded.
The appeals court found that the set-aside order did not dispose of any particular phase. The order simply reversed the probate court’s earlier approval of the divorce settlement. It did not conclude the settlement phase of the divorce proceedings within the guardianship. It did not finalize the guardianship’s administration. And it did not discharge the guardian or close the guardianship.
Kaleb and Kylie apparently recognized this weakness in their jurisdictional position. In their response to the court’s jurisdictional letter, they candidly described the particular-phase-finality issue as “admittedly unclear.” They acknowledged that they filed their appeal “in abundance of caution,” recognizing that if the court dismissed for lack of finality, they could appeal the order later when the guardianship proceeding concluded.
The Absence of Statutory Authorization for Interlocutory Appeal
Because the July 29 order was not final even under the particular-phase-finality exception, Kaleb and Kylie’s only remaining path to appellate jurisdiction would have been to identify a statute authorizing an interlocutory appeal from the specific type of order at issue.
Texas law does permit immediate appeals from certain categories of interlocutory orders when a statute specifically authorizes such appeals.
Section 51.014 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code authorizes interlocutory appeals from orders granting or denying temporary injunctions, appointing receivers, and certifying or refusing to certify class actions, among other specific circumstances. Various sections of the Texas Estates Code authorize immediate appeals from particular types of probate and guardianship orders.
However, Kaleb and Kylie did not cite any statute authorizing an immediate appeal from an order setting aside a prior order approving a mediated settlement agreement in a guardianship proceeding. Without statutory authorization and without particular-phase finality, the order simply was not appealable.
The Takeaway
It can be difficult to know when appeals rights arise in Texas litigation cases. This is particularly true in probate and guardianship proceedings, as these types of proceedings can have a number of different phases and court orders. The particular-phase-finality doctrine helps explain when guardianship orders are appealable, but it requires careful analysis of whether a given order truly concludes a discrete phase of the proceedings. This itself requires a careful analysis to determine whether the interested parties have to wait until the guardianship is properly settled and closed before seeking appellate review of such intermediate decisions.
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Disclaimer
The content of this website is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The information presented may not apply to your situation and should not be acted upon without consulting a qualified probate attorney. We encourage you to seek the advice of a competent attorney with any legal questions you may have.
