Sec. 73.062.  ABATEMENT.  (a)  A person against whom a suit is pending who does not receive a written request for a correction, clarification, or retraction, as required by Section 73.055, may file a plea in abatement not later than the 30th day after the date the person files an original answer in the court in which the suit is pending.
(b)  A suit is automatically abated, in its entirety, without the order of the court, beginning on the 11th day after the date a plea in abatement is filed under Subsection (a) if the plea in abatement:
(1)  is verified and alleges that the person against whom the suit is pending did not receive the written request as required by Section 73.055; and
(2)  is not controverted in an affidavit filed by the person bringing the claim before the 11th day after the date on which the plea in abatement is filed.
(c)  An abatement under Subsection (b) continues until the 60th day after the date that the written request is served or a later date agreed to by the parties.  If a controverting affidavit is filed under Subsection (b)(2), a hearing on the plea in abatement will take place as soon as practical considering the court's docket.
(d)  All statutory and judicial deadlines under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure relating to a suit abated under Subsection (b), other than those provided in this section, will be stayed during the pendency of the abatement period under this section.
Added by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 950 (H.B. 1759), Sec. 2, eff. June 14, 2013.