In the Interest of K.N., K.L., K.L., and K.L., Children — Memorandum Opinion Per Curiam

In The
Court of Appeals
Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
No. 07-24-00146-CV
IN THE INTEREST OF K.N., K.L., K.L., AND K.L., CHILDREN
On Appeal from the 223rd District Court
Gray County, Texas
Trial Court No. 40,562, Honorable Phil N. Vanderpool, Presiding
October 22, 2026
ORDER OF ABATEMENT AND REMAND
Before PARKER, C.J., and DOSS and PRATT, JJ.
Mother, C.N., and Father, R.L., appeal the trial court’s orders entered in this suit
affecting the parent-child relationship brought by Appellee, the Texas Department of
Family and Protective Services.1 Mother’s and Father’s supplemental briefs are due
October 22, 2026. Now pending before the Court is Father’s counsel’s motion to
withdraw, in which counsel informs the Court that Father wishes to represent himself on
appeal.
1 To protect the privacy of the parties involved, we will refer to them by their initials. See TEX. FAM.
CODE § 109.002(d); TEX. R. APP. P. 9.8(b).

2
We abate the appeal, including all pending briefing deadlines, and remand the
cause to the trial court to rule on counsel’s motion to withdraw and to determine the
following:
1. whether good cause exists to allow Father’s counsel to withdraw from
representation, see TEX. R. CIV. P. 10;
2. whether Father still desires to prosecute this appeal;
3. whether Father remains indigent;
4. if Father desires to proceed on appeal pro se, whether his decision to do so
is competently and intelligently made, including whether he is aware of the
dangers and disadvantages of self-representation on appeal, see In re
M.H., 668 S.W.3d 426, 430–31 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2023, no pet.) (holding
that “[a] parent’s waiver of the right to counsel [in a parental termination
case] must, at the very least, be knowing and intelligent.”); and
5. whether new counsel should be appointed to represent Father. See TEX.
FAM. CODE § 107.013.
The trial court shall issue findings of fact and conclusions of law addressing the
foregoing matters and shall cause to be developed (1) a clerk’s record containing the
findings and conclusions and (2) a reporter’s record transcribing any evidence and
argument presented at the hearing. Due to the time-sensitive nature of an appeal from a
parental termination order, the record shall be filed with the Clerk of this Court on or before
October 29, 2026. See TEX. R. JUD. ADMIN. 6.2(a).
If the trial court determines that new appellate counsel should be appointed, the
name, address, email address, telephone number, and state bar number of any newly

3
appointed counsel shall be included in the aforementioned findings. Should the trial court
determine that the appointment of new counsel is not required, the appeal shall proceed
in due course upon reinstatement of the cause on this Court’s docket.2
It is so ordered.
Per Curiam
2 Father’s pending motion for an extension of time to file a supplemental brief is dismissed as moot.