McKINSTER, J.—
B.F. (father) purports to appeal from a juvenile court order denying his petition under Welfare and Institutions Code section 388 (all additional undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code), in which he requested family reunification services and increased visitation with his twin sons, J.F. and C.F. Although the order denying father's petition is appealable, and father filed his notice of appeal within the time to appeal from that order, the notice of appeal expressly stated father was appealing only from the order terminating his parental rights to the boys that was entered 44 days after denial of his petition. Because father's notice of appeal is clear and unambiguous about what he meant to appeal, we cannot liberally construe it to embrace the omitted order denying the section 388 petition and, hence, we lack jurisdiction to review that order. And, because father presents no reasoned argument why the juvenile court erred by terminating his parental rights, father has waived his challenge to the sole order properly before us. Therefore, we must affirm.
The underlying facts of this case are not germane to the dispositive question of this court's jurisdiction to review the January 22, 2019 order denying father's section 388 petition. In brief, the juvenile court found that J.F. and C.F. were dependent children within the meaning of section 300, bypassed reunification services for father and mother (who is not a party to this appeal), and set a hearing pursuant to section 366.26 for the selection of a permanent plan. (§ 361.5, subd. (b).) The juvenile court continued the hearing to permit the San Bernardino County Children and Family Services (CFS) additional time to locate an adoptive home for the boys and ordered paternity testing for father. When the tests confirmed father's biological paternity, he petitioned the juvenile court pursuant to section 388 to be declared the boys' presumed father. The juvenile court denied the petition, but father did not appeal that order.
After conducting a permanency planning review hearing, the juvenile court again set a section 366.26 hearing. Father then filed a second section 388 petition requesting reunification services and increased visitation. On January 22, 2019, the juvenile court denied father's most recent petition after hearing an offer of proof about changed circumstances and arguments as to why the requested orders would be in the boys' best interest. The court continued the section 366.26 hearing to March 7, 2019. Father did not immediately file a notice of appeal from the order denying his second petition.
Father argues the juvenile court abused its discretion when it summarily denied his most recent section 388 petition. According to father, he was entitled to relief because he demonstrated changed circumstances and the relief he sought—reunification services and increased visitation—was in the boys' best interests. Because we conclude father did not actually appeal from the January 22, 2019 order denying his second section 388 petition, and we cannot liberally construe father's notice of appeal to embrace that order, we lack jurisdiction to address the merits of father's argument. Although father properly appealed from the March 7, 2019 order terminating his parental rights, we must affirm it because he has failed to provide any reasoned argument why that order should be reversed.
"`[A]n appealable judgment or order is a jurisdictional prerequisite to an appeal.'" (Hedwall v. PCMV, LLC (2018) 22 Cal.App.5th 564, 571 [231 Cal.Rptr.3d 560].) "Because the right to appeal is strictly statutory, a judgment or order is not appealable unless a statute expressly makes it appealable. [Citations.] `Appeals in dependency proceedings are governed by section 395 ....' [Citations.] Section 395 provides in pertinent part that `[a] judgment in a proceeding under Section 300 may be appealed in the same manner as any final judgment, and any subsequent order may be appealed as an order after judgment.' (§ 395, subd. (a)(1); [citation].)" (In re Michael H. (2014) 229 Cal.App.4th 1366, 1373 [178 Cal.Rptr.3d 71], fn. omitted.) The judgment in dependency proceedings is the dispositional order. (In re S.B. (2009) 46 Cal.4th 529, 532 [94 Cal.Rptr.3d 24, 207 P.3d 525].) "`"A consequence of section 395 is that an unappealed disposition or postdisposition order is final and binding and may not be attacked on an appeal from a later appealable order."'" (Ibid.; accord, In re A.A. (2016) 243 Cal.App.4th 1220, 1234 [197 Cal.Rptr.3d 619].)
In addition, "the timely filing of an appropriate notice of appeal or its legal equivalent is an absolute prerequisite to the exercise of appellate jurisdiction." (Hollister Convalescent Hosp., Inc. v. Rico (1975) 15 Cal.3d 660, 670 [125 Cal.Rptr. 757, 542 P.2d 1349]; see Cal Rules of Court, rules 8.100, 8.104.) "`[O]nce the deadline [to appeal] expires, the appellate court
There is no question the January 22, 2019 order denying father's second section 388 petition was an appealable postjudgment order (In re Shirley K. (2006) 140 Cal.App.4th 65, 71 [43 Cal.Rptr.3d 897]), and father's March 7 notice of appeal was otherwise timely because he filed it less than 60 days later. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.104(a).) The sole issue here is whether father properly appealed from that order in the first place. A notice of appeal "is sufficient if it identifies the particular judgment or order being appealed." (Cal. Rules of Court, rules 8.100(a)(2), 8.405(a)(3).) "`Our jurisdiction on appeal is limited in scope to the notice of appeal and the judgment or order appealed from.' [Citation.] We have no jurisdiction over an order not mentioned in the notice of appeal." (Faunce v. Cate (2013) 222 Cal.App.4th 166, 170 [166 Cal.Rptr.3d 61].)
Father's notice of appeal (Judicial Council Forms, form JV-800) filed on March 7, 2019, indicates he intended to appeal only from the order entered that day terminating his parental rights.
Generally, we must liberally construe a notice of appeal in favor of its sufficiency. (Cal. Rules of Court, rules 8.100(a)(2), 8.405(a)(3).) A notice of appeal shall be "`liberally construed so as to protect the right of appeal if it is reasonably clear what [the] appellant was trying to appeal from, and where the respondent could not possibly have been misled or prejudiced.'" (In re Joshua S. (2007) 41 Cal.4th 261, 272 [59 Cal.Rptr.3d 460, 159 P.3d 49], italics added, quoting Luz v. Lopes (1960) 55 Cal.2d 54, 59 [10 Cal.Rptr. 161,
But there are limits to our ability to liberally construe a notice of appeal. "The policy of liberally construing a notice of appeal in favor of its sufficiency [citation] does not apply if the notice is so specific it cannot be read as reaching a judgment or order not mentioned at all." (Filbin v. Fitzgerald (2012) 211 Cal.App.4th 154, 173 [149 Cal.Rptr.3d 422]; see Eisenberg et al., Cal. Practice Guide: Civil Appeals and Writs, supra, ¶ 3:130.5, p. 3-63.) "[I]t is well `beyond liberal construction' to view an appeal from one order as an appeal from a `further and different order.' [Citation.] `Despite the rule favoring liberal interpretation of notices of appeal, a notice of appeal will not be considered adequate if it completely omits any reference to the judgment being appealed.' [Citation.] `The rule favoring appealability in cases of ambiguity cannot apply where there is a clear intention to appeal from only ... one of two separate appealable judgments or orders.'" (Baker v. Castaldi (2015) 235 Cal.App.4th 218, 225-226 [185 Cal.Rptr.3d 17].) Therefore, when a notice of appeal manifests a "`clear and unmistakable'" intent to appeal only from one order, we cannot liberally construe the notice to apply to a different, omitted order. (Unilogic, Inc. v. Burroughs Corp. (1992) 10 Cal.App.4th 612, 625 [12 Cal.Rptr.2d 741], quoting Glassco v. El Sereno Country Club, Inc. (1932) 217 Cal. 90, 91-92 [17 P.2d 703]; accord, Ellis v. Ellis (2015) 235 Cal.App.4th 837, 846 [185 Cal.Rptr.3d 587] [declining to liberally construe notice of appeal to include corrected judgment "where every indication in the record" showed appellant only intended to appeal from original judgment].)
As indicated ante, father's March 7, 2019 notice of appeal makes no mention of the January 22 order denying his section 388 petition. Instead, the notice expressly states father intended to appeal solely from the March 7 order terminating his parental rights. In his briefs, father essentially concedes
The mother in Madison W. timely filed a notice of appeal "stating she was appealing from the January 13, 2006 order terminating parental rights," but "[t]he notice of appeal contained no reference to the January 10 order denying [her] section 388 petition." (Madison W., supra, 141 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1449-1450.) The appellate court indicated it "frequently receiv[ed] notices of appeal challenging the termination of [parental] rights and nothing more despite the fact that on or before the same day as the termination order but within 60 days of when the notice of appeal was filed [citation], the [juvenile] court also denied the parent's eleventh-hour section 388 petition." (Id. at p. 1450.) The court routinely deemed those notices of appeal to include the earlier order. "First, the denial of such a section 388 petition is an appealable order. [Citation.] Second, the parent's notice of appeal is entitled to our liberal construction. [Citation.] Third, appellate jurisdiction to review an appealable order depends upon a timely notice of appeal. [Citation.] Fourth, the notice of appeal would be timely as to the denial of the parent's section 388 petition, provided the trial court denied the parent's section 388 petition within 60 days of when the parent filed the notice of appeal. [Citation.] And, finally, respondent is not prejudiced." (Ibid.)
The appellate court stated it was not condoning "the practice of only citing the termination order in the notice of appeal if there was also an order denying the parent's section 388 petition made at or close to the termination hearing," and it was not condoning "any omission on appellate counsel's part to carefully review the notice of appeal and promptly bring the issue to [the] court's attention." (Madison W., supra, 141 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1450-1451.) Nonetheless, the court indicated it was being "pragmatic" and liberally construed the notice of appeal in that case to embrace the omitted order denying the mother's section 388 petition. (Madison W., at p. 1451.)
In Madison W., the juvenile court denied the mother's section 388 petition a mere three days before it terminated parental rights and the mother filed her notice of appeal. (Madison W., supra, 141 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1449-1450.) Here, father's notice of appeal from the termination order was not filed until 44 days after the juvenile court denied his most recent section 388 petition.
As stated ante, a notice of appeal must be construed liberally to encompass an order not expressly mentioned only when it is "`reasonably clear'" the appellant intended to appeal from the unmentioned order. (In re Joshua S., supra, 41 Cal.4th at p. 272.) To repeat, the policy of liberal construction "does not apply if the notice is so specific it cannot be read as reaching a judgment or order not mentioned at all." (Filbin v. Fitzgerald, supra, 211 Cal.App.4th at p. 173, italics added.) Father's notice of appeal in this case is very specific and manifests a "`clear and unmistakable'" intent to appeal solely from the March 7, 2019 order terminating his parental rights and not from the order entered 44 days earlier denying his second section 388 petition.
Although we too strive to be pragmatic within the settled limits of our duty to liberally construe notices of appeal, applying the rule from Madison W. in a case like this—where the order denying the section 388 petition was entered many days before the juvenile court terminated parental rights, and the notice of appeal from the termination order did not mention whatsoever the earlier order or the date it was entered—goes "`beyond liberal construction' to view an appeal from one order as an appeal from a `further and different order.'" (Baker v. Castaldi, supra, 235 Cal.App.4th at p. 225.)
In sum, because we cannot liberally construe father's notice of appeal to embrace the January 22, 2019 order denying his most recent section 388 petition, we lack jurisdiction to review that order,
The juvenile court's orders are "presumed to be correct, and it is appellant's burden to affirmatively show error." (In re S.C. (2006) 138 Cal.App.4th 396, 408 [41 Cal.Rptr.3d 453], citing Denham v. Superior Court (1970) 2 Cal.3d 557, 564 [86 Cal.Rptr. 65, 468 P.2d 193]; accord, In re Sade C. (1996) 13 Cal.4th 952, 994 [55 Cal.Rptr.2d 771, 920 P.2d 716] ["An appealed-from judgment or order is presumed correct."].) "`Appellate briefs must provide argument and legal authority for the positions taken.' [Citation.] `When an appellant fails to raise a point, or asserts it but fails to support it with reasoned argument and citations to authority, we treat the point as waived.'" (In re A.C. (2017) 13 Cal.App.5th 661, 672 [220 Cal.Rptr.3d 725].) Because father has not met his burden of demonstrating
The order terminating father's parental rights is affirmed.
Ramirez, P. J., and Fields, J., concurred.
In contrast, Madison W. has only once been cited in a published opinion. In In re Angelina E. (2015) 233 Cal.App.4th 583 [182 Cal.Rptr.3d 765], the juvenile court denied the mother's section 388 petition and terminated her parental rights at the same hearing. (Angelina E., at p. 585.) The mother filed a notice of appeal from the termination order "without mentioning the denial of her section 388 petition" but, relying on Madison W., the appellate court "constru[ed] the notice of appeal to encompass that denial." (In re Angelina E., at p. 585, fn. 2, citing Madison W., supra, 141 Cal.App.4th at p. 1450.) Notwithstanding the court's citation to Madison W., the rule of liberal construction was properly applied there because the orders were issued simultaneously, and presumably it was reasonably clear the mother intended to appeal from the denial of her section 388 petition as well. (See In re Daniel Z., supra, 10 Cal.App.4th at p. 1017.)