Amber Wray v. Jonathon A. Papp, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 5400

Amber Wray and Jonathon Papp married on December 28, 2007 and have a minor child born May 12, 2004.
Wray and Papp separated in August 2011; Papp moved with the child to Texas and filed for divorce on August 3, 2012.
Papp served an amended petition and notified Wray of the final hearing set for December 13, 2012; Wray was in Mississippi and did not appear.
At the final hearing, Papp appeared pro se; record of testimony was waived with the court’s consent, and Papp was named sole managing conservator with child support and health insurance obligations.
Wray did not sign or agree to the final decree; a restricted appeal was filed by Wray on June 14, 2013.
The trial court’s order granting the divorce was reversed and remanded for a new hearing due to an error in record-keeping and waiver of the record.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Timeliness of restricted appeal	Wray timely filed within six months after judgment per 26.1 and Verburgt extension.	Papp contends filing was untimely or not properly extended.	Notice timely; extended under Rule 26.3.
Waiver of the record in a parent-child suit	Record waiver must include Wray; she was absent and unrepresented.	Waiver valid as to all parties that appeared or were represented.	Waiver invalid; trial court erred in waiving the record for Wray.
Effect of missing reporter's record on sufficiency review	Cannot evaluate evidence without a reporter’s record.	Record sufficiency review possible without full reporter’s record.	Reversible error; record required; remand for new hearing.

In re Vega, 10 S.W.3d 720 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 1999) (parental-record waivers require party presence; cannot waive for absent party)
Stubbs v. Stubbs, 685 S.W.2d 643 (Tex. 1985) (need for proper record to review trial court findings)
Insurance Co. of State of PA. v. Lejeune, 297 S.W.3d 254 (Tex. 2009) (face-of-the-record error standard for restricted appeals)