Bryson L. v. Izabella L. (Nebraska 2019)

The appellate court only has jurisdiction over timely-filed appeals. The mother and father divorced in November 2016, and the father was awarded custody of the child. In September 2017, an alleged father filed to intervene in the divorce action, stating he was the child’s biological father. The district court denied his motion. The alleged father filed two motions to vacate/amend the order, both of which were denied. The alleged father then appealed. The Supreme Court found it had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal because the father had not timely filed the appeal. The appeal time began to run from the date of the order denying the father’s first motion to vacate/reconsider. His second motion was not filed timely, so it had not reset the appeal clock. Because the father relied on the date of the denial of the second motion, his appeal was too late.