Blog

Grandparents who are raising their grandchildren in Pennsylvania, while the parents work, might wonder if they have legal custody rights under the law. A recent decision of the Pennsylvania Superior Court (non-precedential) may contain an answer to that question.  In J.L. F.L .and L.L. v. A.A.M., No. 530 MDA 2014 (August 28, 2014), the mother and father resided with father’s parents when their son was born.  Father and Mother became separated, and […]

Pennsylvania parents who have custody orders may experience frustration when the other parent does not comply.  A recent decision of the Superior Court (unpublished) affirmed the Montgomery County courts, holding both parents in contempt for various violations of their custody order.  In M.B. v. L.G., No. 2947 EDA 2013 (July 18, 2014), the father of a ten year old child filed a custody contempt petition against the child’s mother when she […]

Parents who are facing custody disputes in Pennsylvania may be interested in understanding how child alienation tactics are viewed by judges in Pennsylvania courts. A recent decision of the Pennsylvania Superior Court (unpublished) illustrates the perils that may befall a parent who engages in alienation tactics.  In B.E. v. D.N., No. 1894 EDA 2013 (April 9, 2014), a mother lost custody of her children, ages 12 and 9, when the […]

Presumably, opinions of the Superior Court are published when, in the estimation of the Court, they articulate important principles of jurisprudence. So, the Superior Court was sending a message to family law practitioners when it chose to publish M.O. v. J.T.R., 2014 Pa.Super. 15 (February 4, 2014). M.O. is a custody case in which Mother and Father were divorced parents of one emancipated daughter and two minor sons.  When they […]

In Watts v. Mannheim Twp. S.D., No. 935 C.D. 2013 (January 7, 2014), the Commonwealth Court was confronted with the issue of whether a school district must provide bus service to the homes of both parents who share custody of their children on a week on-week off basis. The school district filed the appeal, arguing that the School Code does not require it to provide transportation to a resident pupil to and from […]

The appeals in R.M. v. S.B., No. 2879 EDA 2012 (July 25, 2013) arose from an international custody dispute, in which the father resided in France and Mother resided in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. At an earlier stage of the child’s life, the child lived in France with the father for several months in 2010. Subsequently, Mother and Father reached an agreement, which was ratified by a New Jersey court, in which […]