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In re Estate of Bendtsen, 229 S.W.3d 845 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2007, no pet. h.).

Estate Administration

Appellate Jurisdiction

Order Authorizing Sale

A probate court granted an application to sell estate property.  The appellate court held that it lacked jurisdiction over an appeal because the order was not a final judgment.  One of the ways for a judgment to be final is if a statute declares that an order is final.   Probate Code § 355 provides that a judgment is final when a court confirms or disapproves a report of sale.  In this case, the sale had not yet occurred, a report had not been filed, and the trial court had not taken action.  Accordingly, the order of sale was merely interlocutory and non-appealable.

Moral:  If a statute explains when a phase of the probate proceeding is final and appealable, a dissatisfied party should wait until the that time comes before appealing.

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