Beltran v. Piersody

748 A.2d 715, 2000 Pa. Super. 66, 2000 Pa. Super. LEXIS 380, 2000 WL 245951
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 6, 2000
Docket1606
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 748 A.2d 715 (Beltran v. Piersody) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beltran v. Piersody, 748 A.2d 715, 2000 Pa. Super. 66, 2000 Pa. Super. LEXIS 380, 2000 WL 245951 (Pa. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

KELLY, J.:

¶ 1 Appellant, Philip Piersody (“Piersody”) appeals from the trial court’s order granting intervenor status, in an ongoing custody action, to Raymond Beltran (“Beltran”). We hold that the order granting intervenor status to Beltran is interlocutory and unreviewable at this time, as the trial court has not yet rendered a final determination on the custody issues. Accordingly, we quash.

¶2 The relevant facts and procedural history of this case are as follows. Pierso-dy and Maryke Faessen Beltran (“Mother”) have been engaged in a ten-year custody battle over J.P., who was born out of wedlock in 1989. Piersody and Mother never married. However, Piersody readily presumed paternity, gave his last name to the child, obtained partial custody, and provided child support. At the time of conception, Mother had also been engaged in an on-going sexual relationship with Beltran. Mother subsequently married Beltran and later bore him a child. After the birth of her second child, Mother pri[717]*717vately questioned whether Piersody was actually the father of J.P. In a New Matter response to one of the many contempt actions filed between Mother and Pierso-dy, Mother even went so far as to assert that Piersody was not the father of J.P.

¶ 3 Meanwhile, Mother and Beltran obtained DNA testing that concluded Beltran was J.P.’s biological father. In 1997, Mother petitioned the court for a declaratory judgment to establish Beltran as the biological father of J.P. Following consideration of the evidence, the court held that Beltran was not estopped from claiming he was J.P.’s biological father and the court adjudicated Beltran the biological father of J.P. The court did not adjudicate any existing rights and duties of Piersody as to the child. Piersody appealed the adjudication of Beltran as the biological father of J.P. This Court dismissed the appeal with prejudice, because Piersody had neglected to file post-trial motions following the declaratory judgment action.

¶ 4 Following dismissal of Piersody’s appeal from the declaratory judgment, Bel-tran filed a petition to intervene in the ongoing custody action between the parties. Relying upon the earlier paternity ruling in Beltran’s favor and Pa.R.C.P. 1915.6, the trial court declared that Bel-tran was a parent whose parental rights have not been previously terminated and granted his petition to intervene. This appeal followed.

¶ 5 On appeal, Appellant raises this issue for our review:

WHETHER THE DEFENSE OF ‘ES-TOPPEL’ CAN BE RAISED IN ACTIONS BROUGHT UNDER Pa.R.C.P. 1915.6?

Piersody’s Brief at 6.

¶ 6 Preliminarily, we must determine whether this appeal is now properly before us.

Under Pennsylvania law, an appeal may be taken from: (1) a final order or an order certified by the trial court as a final order (Pa.R.A.P.341); (2) an interlocutory order as of right (Pa.R.A.P. 311); (3) an interlocutory order by permission (Pa.R.A.P. 312, 1311, 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 702(b)); (4) or a collateral order (Pa.R.A.P.313). The question of the appealability of an order goes directly to the jurisdiction of the Court asked to review the order.

Pace v. Thomas Jefferson Univ. Hosp., 717 A.2d 539, 540 (Pa.Super.1998). A final order is any order that disposes of all claims and all parties, is expressly defined as a final order by statute, or is entered as a final order pursuant to the trial court’s determination. Pa.R.A.P. 341 (b) (1) — (3). The Note following Rule 341 provides in pertinent part:

The following is a partial list of orders that are no longer appealable as final orders pursuant to Rule 341 but which in an appropriate case might fall under Rules 312 (Interlocutory Appeals by Permission) or 313 (Collateral Orders) of this Chapter:
(4) an order denying a party the right to intervene.

Pa.R.A.P. 341. Note (Emphasis added). Further, “a custody order is considered final and appealable only if it is both: (1) entered after the court has completed its hearings on the merits; and (2) intended by the court to constitute complete resolution of the custody claims pending between the parties.” G.B. v. M.M.B., 448 Pa.Super. 133, 670 A.2d 714, 720 (1996) (en banc) (emphasis added).

¶ 7 In the instant appeal, Piersody challenges the order of the trial court granting intervenor status to Beltran, as biological father of J.P., pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 1915.6, in the ongoing child custody dispute. We understand how an order denying a party the right to intervene could have been considered a final, appealable order before the rule change or how it may, under certain circumstances, qualify as a collateral order. However, we have [718]*718found no case law or rule stating that an order granting intervenor status under Rule 1915.6 has ever been considered an immediately appealable order. Moreover, the order in question was generated in ongoing child custody proceedings. Thus, the order on appeal cannot qualify as a final order as well because it was entered before the court had completed its hearings on the merits and was not intended by the court to constitute a complete resolution of the custody claims pending between the parties. See G.B., supra.

¶ 8 Appellant simply does not provide any statement of jurisdiction or suggest grounds for this Court to consider the order on appeal as final under Pa.R.AP. 341. Here, the order appealed from does not dispose of all claims or all parties involved in the case; it is not one which is expressly defined as a final order by statute; and it was not entered as a final order pursuant to subdivision (c) of Rule 341. See Pa.R.AP. 341 (stating, in absence of express determination that immediate appeal would facilitate resolution of entire case, where order or other form of decision adjudicates fewer than all claims and parties, it shall not constitute final order); G.B., supra. Nothing in the record provided to us on appeal demonstrates that Appellant requested certification by the trial court under Rule 341(c)(3) or sought this Court’s permission under Rule 312. Thus, Appellant filed his appeal without court certification under Rule 341(c)(3) and without permission of this Court under Rule 312. Furthermore, the order appealed from is not among those listed under Rule 311 as interlocutory as of right. Accordingly, the order on appeal must qualify as a collateral order under Rule 313 to warrant immediate review.

A collateral order is an order separable from and collateral to the main cause of action where the right involved is too important to be denied review and the question presented is such that if review is postponed until final judgment in the case, the claim will be irreparable lost.

Pa.R.A.P. 313(b). Our Supreme Court has recently explained:

Rule of Appellate Procedure 313 sets forth a narrow exception to the general rule that only final orders are subject to appellate review.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
748 A.2d 715, 2000 Pa. Super. 66, 2000 Pa. Super. LEXIS 380, 2000 WL 245951, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beltran-v-piersody-pasuperct-2000.