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The Pennsylvania custody law, promulgated in 2011, lists 16 factors that a trial court must consider when determining which parent shall have custody of minor children. Already, in the brief time since the law’s passage, the Superior Court has emphasized repeatedly that the courts must consider and articulate all of the relevant factors in its decisions. See M.P. v. M.P., 54 A.3d 950, 956 (Pa.Super.2012). Several of those factors touch […]

A recent grandparent custody case developed a schism among the judges of the Superior Court in an unpublished opinion, two judges voting in favor of the grandparents and one judge dissenting. In M.M. and M.M. v. A.M. and B.M., No. 2308 EDA 2012 (February 20, 2012), a custody dispute pitted the mother of an 8 year old child against the child’s grandparents, who had been Mother’s adoptive foster parents. The […]

Perhaps grandparents and extended families have always played a major role in the rearing of children, but their involvement has become more prominent in an era of fractionalized and blended families. The Superior Court has enunciated the standards applicable to the custody rights of grandparents in a recent unpublished decision. In K.M. Jr. v. R.R., and J.L. and D.R., No. 1482 MDA 2012 (March 8, 2013), the father of a […]

Why does a parent agree to a “temporary” or “interim” custody order that allows the other parent to move away with the children, when he or she intends is fighting to win custody from the relocating parent? A wish for marital reconciliation might be one reason, or perhaps an effort to win favor with the court by appearing to be even-tempered and amiable. Maybe the parent left behind hasn’t lined […]

The era of blended families presents dilemmas that family lawyers might recognize but remarrying spouses do not contemplate when they say “I do (again).” After divorce, a parent’s opportunities for careeer advancement may be limited, if he or she cannot relocate geographically for work or will not be relieved of a child support obligation temporarily to pursue further education. These limitations might also impact upon new spouses who bind their […]

A new unpublished memorandum opinion of the Superior Court  illustrates what we tell clients all the time in custody cases: Those who have a clear plan for the children are more likely to prevail. In C.H. v. D.M.T.H., No. 1500 MDA 2012 (memo op., January 17, 2013), the Superior Court considered a custody case emerging from a virtually-equal shared custody arrangement, in which the child lived with mom four overnights per […]