L.D.W. v. B.E.W.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided May 17, 2016·No. 1264 WDA 2015·Unpublished

Opinion

J. A04014/16

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION – SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

L.D.W., : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant : : v. : No. 1264 WDA 2015 : B.E.W. :

Appeal from the Order, July 16, 2015, in the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County Civil Division at No. 1946 of 2013-D

BEFORE: FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E., BENDER, P.J.E., AND SHOGAN, J.

MEMORANDUM BY FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E.: FILED MAY 17, 2016

L.D.W. (“Mother”) appeals from the order entered July 16, 2015, in the

Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas, which awarded the parties

shared legal custody, B.E.W. (“Father”) primary physical custody, and

Mother partial physical custody of H.B.W., born in December of 1997, and

A.R.W., born in August of 2006 (collectively, the “Children”). The order

additionally awarded Father the ability to decide which school A.R.W. is to

attend. After review, we affirm.

A portion of the pertinent factual and procedural history was

summarized by this court previously in memorandum dated March 16, 2015,

as follows:

A.R.W. was born during the marriage of Father and Mother. N.T., 7/29/14, at 6. Mother legally adopted Father’s son, H.B.W., born in December of J. A04014/16

1997, who resides at the Milton Hershey School. Id. at 5-6. In July of 2013, Father and Mother separated. Id. at 6. Mother resides in the marital home with A.R.W., and Father resides in the home of his paramour, K.M., and her daughter, S., who is one year older than A.R.W. Id. at 70, 73.

On September 18, 2013, Mother filed pro se a custody complaint and a separate petition for emergency relief, where she requested primary physical custody of A.R.W. and H.B.W., who were then ages seven and fifteen, respectively. The trial court denied Mother’s petition for emergency relief. The court entered a temporary custody order on November 4, 2013, which indicated it would become a final order unless one of the parties filed a praecipe for a pre-trial conference within 30 days. Father filed a praecipe on November 18, 2013. On November 20, 2013, the trial court issued an order scheduling the pre-trial conference for February 11, 2014. Thereafter, the court rescheduled the pre-trial conference for February 18, 2014, due to a conflict in the court’s schedule, and again for April 29, 2014, due to bad weather.

Prior to the pre-trial conference, on February 21, 2014, Mother filed a notice of proposed relocation, and proposed relocating with A.R.W. to Cheswick, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, which Mother alleged was less than 20 miles from the marital residence where she was currently living. On March 3, 2014, Father filed a counter-affidavit objecting to the proposed relocation and to modification of the custody order.

Following the pre-trial conference on April 29, 2014, by order dated April 30, 2014, the court issued an interim custody order and scheduled the trial on custody and relocation for July 29, 2014. The interim order granted Mother primary physical custody of A.R.W., and Father partial physical custody on alternating weekends, from Friday after school until Sunday at 5:00 p.m., and every Tuesday and Thursday after school until 7:30 p.m.,

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inter alia. During the summer, the order granted Father partial custody on alternating weekends from Thursday at 5:00 p.m. until Sunday at 5:00 p.m., and during the intervening week, from Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. until Thursday at 9:00 a.m., inter alia. The interim order was silent with respect to the custody of H.B.W.

At the custody trial on July 29, 2014, the following witnesses testified: Mother; Father; K.M., Father’s paramour; and A.R.W., in camera. By memorandum and order dated August 18, 2014, the trial court granted the parties shared legal custody of A.R.W., Mother primary physical custody of A.R.W., and Father partial physical custody of A.R.W. on alternating weekends and every Tuesday and Thursday after school or at 4:00 p.m. if there is no school. The order also set forth a holiday schedule and granted the parties one week of vacation with A.R.W. during the summer. The order was silent with respect to the custody of H.B.W. Further, the order denied Mother’s request to relocate with A.R.W. On September 18, 2014, Father filed a notice of appeal and a concise statement of errors complained of on appeal.

L.D.W. v. B.E.W., 120 A.3d 1056 (Pa.Super. 2015) (unpublished

memorandum at 1-4) (footnotes omitted).

Pursuant to the memorandum dated March 16, 2015, this court

vacated the order of August 18, 2014 and remanded the matter to the trial

court to: consider all of the Section 5328(a) custody factors, with respect to

both A.R.W. and H.B.W., on the record or in a written opinion; set forth

findings of fact and determinations regarding credibility and weight of the

evidence; and enter a custody order that includes both A.R.W. and H.B.W.

By order dated April 1, 2015, the trial court scheduled a remand trial for

-3- J. A04014/16

April 21, 2015. At the time of the remand trial, the court conducted a trial

de novo “in order that all facts and circumstances, even those that had

arisen after remand, could be fairly and comprehensively considered.”

(Memorandum and order, 7/16/15 at 1.)1 The following witnesses testified:

Father; Mother; H.B.W.; T.W., Father’s oldest daughter, whom Mother did

not adopt; J.W., Mother’s boyfriend; and A.R.W., in camera. Of note, both

Mother and Father were represented by counsel.2

Following the remand trial, on April 22, 2015, the trial court ordered

the parties to submit a proposed order within ten days. Thereafter, on

July 16, 2015, by memorandum and order, the trial court granted the parties

shared legal custody of the Children, primary physical custody of H.B.W. to

Father, with partial physical custody to Mother as agreed to by H.B.W., and

primary physical custody of A.R.W. to Father, with partial physical custody to

Mother. Specifically, Mother was granted partial physical custody of A.R.W.

as follows: during the school year, every other weekend from Friday at

5:30 p.m. until Sunday at 7:00 p.m., and every Wednesday at 5:00 p.m.

until 8:00 p.m.; and, during the summer vacation, every other week from

Friday at 5:00 p.m. until the following Friday at 5:00 p.m. In addition,

1 The trial court incorrectly indicates that the remand relates to its order dated September 22, 2015, entered September 25, 2015. (Memorandum and order, 7/21/15 at 1.) However, as stated in this court’s prior memorandum dated March 16, 2015, this order was a “nullity.” L.D.W. v. B.E.W., 120 A.3d 1056 (Pa.Super. 2015) (unpublished memorandum at 10). 2 Mother is represented by new counsel on this appeal.

-4- J. A04014/16

Father was further granted the ability to decide which school A.R.W. is to

attend, with Mother to have access to all of the school records and be

informed of all school activities by Father. The trial court’s memorandum

analyzed each of the 16 custody factors pursuant to Section 5328(a) and

included findings of fact and determinations regarding credibility and weight

of the evidence. On August 14, 2015, Mother, through counsel, then filed a

notice of appeal and concise statement of errors complained of on appeal.

On appeal, Mother raises the following issues for our review:3

I. Whether the trial court committed an error of law by not considering Mother’s request for relocation and by failing to consider the relocation factors pursuant to 23 Pa. C.S.A. § 5337(h)?[4]

II.

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