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There are many ways to describe a custody arrangement. The new Pennsylvania custody law, enacted in 2011, defines the terms we frequently use in describing custody: “Legal custody.” The right to make major decisions on behalf of the child, including, but not limited to, medical, religious and educational decisions. “Partial physical custody.” The right to assume physical custody of the child for less than a majority of the time. “Physical […]

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has issued its first decision interpreting the counseling provision of the newly-enacted custody statute. In cases where a parent has been convicted of one of the crimes listed in the custody law, the court is required to provide counseling before rendering a custody order, as follows: (c) Counseling.—In making a determination to award custody, partial custody or visitation pursuant to subsection (b), the court shall […]

One of the most-respected judges to sit in Family Division here in Allegheny County, Hon. Eugene B. Strassburger, Jr., recently ascended to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. His first published opinion in a Family Division matter was released this month, demonstrating remarkable judicial restraint. In BJD v. DLC, 2011 Pa.Super. 74 (April 11, 2011), Judge Strassburger considered a custody case in which both parents and their child had moved away […]

Justice Stevens wrote that the non-relocation order was merely a restriction on the mother’s custody rights, not “rights of custody” that would justify the more stringent remedy under the Hague Convention.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the international child custody treaty (the Hague Convention) requires the return of a child who was removed in violation of a non-relocation order.

The Jon and Kate divorce provided another example this week of what not to do.