Lopez v. Vasquez

43 Pa. D. & C.5th 429
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County
DecidedJanuary 13, 2015
DocketNo. 2014-009787
StatusPublished

This text of 43 Pa. D. & C.5th 429 (Lopez v. Vasquez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lopez v. Vasquez, 43 Pa. D. & C.5th 429 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2015).

Opinion

DOZOR, J.,

— This Appeal is considered [431]*431as a direct appeal from this court’s December 8, 2014 “order dismissing petition for emergency relief.” The nature and history of the case is as follows:

On October 30, 2014 appellant’s attorney of record filed simultaneously: an entry of appearance, a “complaint in custody,” and a “motion to incorporate stipulation for custody,” with the “stipulation and agreement of custody” in the above captioned Delaware County docket. This initial filing of a complaint of custody began the normal and customary process filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County, Family Court Division and was assigned a custody conference hearing date before a master and the case was also assigned to the undersigned judge. In this case, appellant was scheduled before master Amanda Konyk for a custody conference on November 24,2014 at 9:00AM. Master Konyk continued the custody conference on November 24,2014 until December 5,2014 at 9:00 AM.

On December 5,2014, the parties, appellant and minor child, were before master Konyk. Following the custody conference before master Konyk, master Konyk authored a temporary custody order providing appellant with temporary legal and physical custody of minor child. This court notes that on December 8, 2014, the undersigned judge confirmed and signed the temporary custody order authored by master Konyk and thereafter, the temporary custody order was docketed by the office of judicial support on December 9, 2014.

Immediately following master Konyk’s issuance of the temporary custody order, appellant filed a petition for emergency relief on December 5, 2014. This petition for emergency relief was provided to this court, as this court was the assigned judge for the custody complaint. After a thorough review of the petition for emergency relief filed [432]*432by counsel and the December 5, 2014 temporary custody order, this court issued an order on December 8, 2014 denying and dismissing the petition for emergency relief. This court noted in the December 8, 2014 order that the Patricia Guadalupe Felix Coronado was no longer a “minor child” as her eighteenth birthday passed on December 6, 2014 since her date of birth is December 6, 1996.

On December 22, 2014, appellant simultaneously filed a “petition for reconsideration of order dismissing petition for emergency relief’ as well as “plaintiff’s exceptions to master’s recommendations.” Again in the normal and customary practice in the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County, this petition for reconsideration and the appeal de novo which was captioned as “plaintiff’s exceptions to master’s recommendations” were provided to the undersigned judge. This court consolidated the two Petitions and scheduled a pre-trial conference date in this matter for February 3, 2015 at 11:00AM. In scheduling this matter for a pre-trial conference, this court required appellant to provide this court with statutory authority that would enable this court to provide appellant with further relief as the “subject child” is currently eighteen (18) years of age.

Despite not having a final custody order in this case, and despite the fact that appellant had requested a hearing de novo before this court, appellant filed, on January 7, 2015, this appeal before the Superior Court. This court notes that no request was made by this court by appellant pursuant to Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure 1925(a) for a concise statement of matters complained of on appeal as appellant filed her concise statements contemporaneously with her notice of appeal as appellant is seeking designation of this appeal as a children’s fast track appeal.

[433]*433This court has reviewed appellant’s concise statements of matters raised on appeal and these are the issues of appeal related to this court’s December 8, 2014 “order dismissing petition for emergency relief:”

1. The court committed an error of law and an abuse of discretion in refusing to sign the stipulated custody agreement and by signing the master’s temporary custody order as the master’s temporary order does not make a finding of abuse, abandonment or neglect nor does the temporary custody order make a finding that it is in the best interests of the “child” not to return to Guatemala.
2. The court committed an error of law and an abuse of discretion in determining that relief requested in the emergency petition was moot as appellant alleges that the issue is not moot despite the fact that the “subject child” is eighteen, appellant maintains that this court continues to have jurisdiction because she remains enrolled in school past her eighteenth birthday.

DISCUSSION:

This court in preparing this opinion has reviewed all the documents in the case. This court notes that Ms. Coronado has been in the care of appellant since October of 2013, according to the stipulation for agreed upon custody, yet appellant waited until just over a month before Ms. Coronado’s eighteenth birthday to file the necessary paperwork for custody and to obtain the special immigrant juvenile Status

Appellant suggests this court erred as Ms. Coronado continues to need a custody order, despite the fact that she is eighteen (18), because she remains enrolled in high school. Additionally, appellant argues that this court erred in not signing the order accompanying the stipulated [434]*434custody agreement and that this court erred when it instead simply signed the temporary custody order. In concert with both arguments, appellant alleges that the denial of the emergency petition for relief was in error as there was cognizable relief available to appellants.

In the December 8, 2014 order, this court noted that although Ms. Coronado was no longer a “minor child” she was currently in High School and remains enrolled in the tenth (10th) grade. In dismissing the emergency petition, this court noted that the petition for emergency relief’s wherefore clause, sought relief from this court to grant appellant the relief requested by granting appellant custody “over the child.” This court notes now, as it did then that Patricia Guadalupe Felix Coronado, is no longer a child and since her eighteenth birthday has become an adult under the applicable Pennsylvania Custody Statutes.

Appellant’s argument is that because Patricia Guadalupe Felix Coronado is currently enrolled and attending high school, she is jurisdictionally a “minor child” for whom this court retains jurisdiction over for the purposes of determining custody. Appellant analogizes that for the purpose of support, the support statutes permit the court to retain jurisdiction and enforcement purposes require a parent to continue to support a “child” who is no longer under the age of eighteen as long as that “child” remains enrolled in high school. A thorough review of the relevant Pennsylvania Statutes, Rules of Civil Procedure and case law is not in agreement with appellant’s position. There is no analogous statute or rule of law or case law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that provides that a parent maintains custodial rights over their child or any child for which there was a prior custody order, after that child reaches the age of majority in the United States, that being eighteen (18).

[435]*43523 Pa.C.S.A. Section 5321(a), contains the definition for Chapter 53: child custody.

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Bluebook (online)
43 Pa. D. & C.5th 429, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lopez-v-vasquez-pactcompldelawa-2015.