Kerns v. Hornberger

3 Pa. D. & C.5th 374
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Berks County
DecidedJanuary 4, 2008
Docketno. 02-5902
StatusPublished

This text of 3 Pa. D. & C.5th 374 (Kerns v. Hornberger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Berks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kerns v. Hornberger, 3 Pa. D. & C.5th 374 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2008).

Opinion

LASH, J,

The matters before this court are the petitions of defendant, Shaun Hornberger (Father), to modify custody order and a corresponding petition of Father to hold plaintiff, Lacey I. Kerns (Mother), in contempt of court. At the time of trial, held on December 18, 2007, the parties were governed by a [376]*376custody order entered by agreement on May 31, 2002, setting forth rights and duties regarding the parties’ minor child, Matthew Hornberger, born December 1,1998. This court enters the following findings of fact:

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

(1) Plaintiff, Lacey I. Kerns (Mother), is an adult individual who resides at 112 South 20th Street, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania 19606.

(2) Defendant, Shaun Hornberger (Father), is an adult individual who resides at 101 South Furnace Street, Birdsboro, Berks County, Pennsylvania 19508.

(3) The parties are the natural parents of Matthew Hornberger (minor child), born December 1, 1998.

(4) The parties were never married.

(5) Mother currently resides with the minor child and her other child, Breyana L. Garman, born March 17, 2003, the child of Mother and Dennis Garman Jr.

(6) Father currently resides with his wife, Brooke, a child of the marriage, Kendall, who is 6 months old, and Brooke’s son, Krystian, age 4. The couple has lived together since November 29, 2005.

(7) Regarding the child, Krystian, Father stands in the status of in loco parentis, having signed an acknowledgment of paternity in the context of child support proceedings, though both he and Brooke acknowledge that he is not the natural father, and though no formal adoption proceedings were ever instituted.

(8) Mother currently resides in the Antietam School District.

[377]*377(9) Father currently resides in the Daniel Boone School District.

(10) The parties previously lived together, commencing in January 1998. It is unclear when the parties separated, Mother believing it to have occurred in 2000 and Father in 2002. However, in Mother’s original complaint for custody, she alleges that the separation took place on April 14,2002.

(11) On or about May 31,2002, the parties entered an agreed custody order by agreement, setting forth, inter alia, that the parties would share legal custody, that Mother would have primary physical custody and that Father would have partial custody of the minor child on alternating weekends commencing Friday at 6 p.m. until Sunday at 6 p.m., and have the minor child every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m.

(12) Until the filing of the within petition to modify, neither party moved to have the custody order amended, although by informal agreement, they deviated from the terms of the order. Currently, Mother retains primary custody, with Father having custody of the minor child on alternate weekends and every Tuesday and Thursday evening.

(13) Mother currently is employed at Spectrum Community Services, working Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., and Daysprings Homes on alternate Saturdays, when she does not have the minor child, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

(14) Her job duties include providing care for developmentally disabled adults. She has received extensive [378]*378training, including first aid, CPR, non-violence crisis intervention, and medical treatment training.

(15) Father currently is employed by Supply One Plastics working from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday. His work schedule is flexible in that he is permitted to change his schedule to five eight-hour days Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., which he states he will do if he obtains primary custody of the minor child.

(16) Mother has the minor child enrolled in daycare at the Trinity Learning Center located in Mount Penn, Berks County, Pennsylvania. She utilizes the daycare for a short time in the mornings before school, dropping the minor child off at 7 a.m., and after school on weekdays when Father does not have the minor child, with the bus dropping the minor child off at the daycare center, and mother picking the minor child up at about 4:15 p.m.

(17) Since the parties’ separation, apparently on April 14, 2002, Mother and the minor child have resided at various residences. Mother first moved to 14 Belvedere Avenue, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania 19611. Sometime later in 2002, Mother moved in with Dennis Garman Jr., residing at 227 South Wyomissing Avenue, Shillington, Berks County, Pennsylvania, until August 6, 2004.

(18) On August 6, 2004, Mother and Dennis Garman Jr. filed petitions for protection from abuse against each other, receiving temporary orders from this court. Mr. Garman was evicted from the residence, and Mother continued to reside there. Ultimately, Mother and Mr. Garman withdrew their respective protection from abuse [379]*379orders against each other, with the orders to vacate being entered September 8, 2004.

(19) At some point in time, probably in the fall of2004, Mother and Dennis Garman Jr. began residing together again, this time at 314 South 18th Street, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania. The cohabitation continued until December 1, 2004, when Mother and Mr. Garman filed second protection from abuse petitions against each other. Temporary orders were granted on December 1, 2004, and Mr. Garman was evicted from the residence.

(20) Shortly thereafter, Mother moved in with her sister at 3507 Penn Avenue, West Lawn, Berks County, Pennsylvania, until sometime in October 2005. At that time, Mother moved into 1029 Fern Avenue, Kenhorst, Berks County, Pennsylvania, the home of the parents of Dennis Garman Jr., although Mother and Dennis Garman Jr. continued to be estranged.

(21) In early 2006, Mother moved from the Garman residence to 217 Upland Avenue, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania 19611. She remained there until she was notified by the owner that the owner intended to sell the premises and that Mother would have to move. Mother then moved to her current residence at 112 South 20th Street, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania 19606, where she currently resides.

(22) Mother is renting her current residence, but is in the process of obtaining a mortgage to purchase the premises with her mother, the maternal grandmother, as a co-signer.

(23) As a result of Mother’s relocations, the minor child has attended school in several different school [380]*380districts. He attended pre-kindergarten at Millmont Elementary. He began kindergarten in Cumru Elementary, then returned to Millmont Elementary. In 2005, he commenced first grade at the Green Valley Elementary School in the Wilson School District. When Mother moved to 217 Upland Avenue, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, she attempted to have the minor child readmitted to the Millmont Elementary School. That school was at full capacity so the minor child attended Thomas Ford. In second grade, the minor child was able to attend the Millmont School. Based on Mother’s relocation to the Antietam School District, the minor child commenced third grade at Mount Penn Elementary, which he now attends.

(24) In the case of Lacey Kerns v. Dennis Garman Jr., in the Common Pleas of Berks County, docket no. 04-10779, I.D. no. 3, this court issued a decision and order dated August 8, 2006.

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Bluebook (online)
3 Pa. D. & C.5th 374, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kerns-v-hornberger-pactcomplberks-2008.