M.D. v. C.D. & N.S.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 12, 2020
Docket2090 MDA 2019
StatusUnpublished

This text of M.D. v. C.D. & N.S. (M.D. v. C.D. & N.S.) 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
M.D. v. C.D. & N.S., (Pa. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

J-S18023-20

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

M.D. : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : C.D. AND N.S. : : : APPEAL OF: L.T. : No. 2090 MDA 2019

Appeal from the Order Entered November 22, 2019 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County Civil Division at No(s): FC-2019-0020448-CU

BEFORE: KUNSELMAN, J., KING, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*

MEMORANDUM BY KING, J.: FILED MAY 12, 2020

Appellant, L.T. (“Maternal Grandmother”), appeals from the order

entered in the Lycoming County Court of Common Pleas, which dismissed for

lack of standing, her petition to intervene in a custody action between M.D.

(“Paternal Grandmother”) and biological parents C.D. (“Father”)1 and N.S.

(“Mother”), regarding M.R.D. (born in June 2018) (“Child”). We reverse and

remand for further proceedings.

The relevant facts and procedural history of this case are as follows. On

May 29, 2019, Paternal Grandmother filed a petition for emergency or special

custody relief concerning Child. Paternal Grandmother alleged, inter alia, that

____________________________________________

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.

1 The record indicates that Father plans to contest paternity. J-S18023-20

approximately two weeks earlier, Father had called Paternal Grandmother and

told her Child was without proper care and housing. Specifically, Father told

Paternal Grandmother the house lacked running water, food, and diapers.

Paternal Grandmother said she contacted Children and Youth Services

(“CYS”), and CYS permitted Paternal Grandmother to take Child home with

her.

Paternal Grandmother further claimed that on the day prior to filing her

petition, she received a phone call from Father, in which Father was screaming

“protect my daughter,” because four individuals had threatened violence

against Father, Mother, Child, and Paternal Grandmother. Paternal

Grandmother said she contacted police. Paternal Grandmother also alleged

that Mother and Father are drug users. Paternal Grandmother attached to her

petition a statement signed by Mother, Father, and witnesses, consenting to

Paternal Grandmother’s temporary custody of Child as of May 25, 2019. For

these reasons, Paternal Grandmother sought sole physical and legal custody

of Child.

On May 29, 2019, a family court hearing officer granted Paternal

Grandmother temporary sole physical custody of Child, pending a hearing

scheduled for June 12, 2019. On June 12, 2019, the court conducted a

custody hearing. The court entered an order that date stating the court heard

serious allegations concerning parents’ ability to care for Child, some of which

were memorialized by a CYS caseworker. The court further stated that during

-2- J-S18023-20

the hearing, the parties reached an agreement regarding custody of Child.

Thus, the court entered an order, by agreement of the parties, for Paternal

Grandmother to retain primary physical and legal custody of Child, subject to

periods of visitation by Mother and Father. The court scheduled a review

hearing for July 23, 2019.

On July 12, 2019, Maternal Grandmother filed a petition to intervene,

seeking primary physical and shared legal custody of Child. Maternal

Grandmother indicated she has lived in Tennessee since 2015, and admitted

that she had not yet met Child. Nevertheless, Maternal Grandmother

maintained she had the financial and physical means to parent Child, and was

ready and willing to assume responsibility for Child. Maternal Grandmother

asserted parents’ inability to care for Child, and also claimed Paternal

Grandmother was unable to properly care for Child based on her physical

infirmities.2

On July 29, 2019, Paternal Grandmother filed an answer and new matter

to Maternal Grandmother’s petition to intervene, opposing Maternal

Grandmother’s request for custody and claiming, inter alia, Maternal

Grandmother lacked standing to intervene. The court scheduled a hearing on

Maternal Grandmother’s petition to intervene for August 28, 2019.

Meanwhile, on July 23, 2019, the court held a review hearing, at which

2 Maternal Grandmother later withdrew this allegation against Paternal Grandmother.

-3- J-S18023-20

Mother, Father, Paternal Grandmother, and a CYS caseworker were present.

The next day, the court entered an order by agreement of the parties,

continuing sole legal and primary physical custody of Child with Paternal

Grandmother, subject to periods of visitation by Mother and Father. The court

scheduled another review hearing for October 16, 2019.

Maternal Grandmother subsequently filed an application to continue the

hearing on her petition to intervene, in light of Paternal Grandmother’s

agreement to let Maternal Grandmother visit Child at Paternal Grandmother’s

home. The court continued the hearing on Maternal Grandmother’s petition

to intervene until November 5, 2019.

The court held another review hearing on October 22, 2019, which

Paternal Grandmother and Father attended. Mother did not attend the

hearing. Following the hearing, the court entered an order, by agreement of

the parties, continuing sole legal and primary physical custody of Child with

Paternal Grandmother, subject to periods of visitation by Mother. Father

indicated that he planned to challenge paternity, so he would not be exercising

visitation rights.

The court held a hearing on Maternal Grandmother’s petition to

intervene on November 5, 2019.3 At the hearing, the court initially asked

Mother if she had a position regarding Maternal Grandmother’s petition to

3 Mother, Maternal Grandmother, and Paternal Grandmother attended the hearing. Although Father was served with notice, he did not attend.

-4- J-S18023-20

intervene. Mother testified that she had discussed the petition to intervene

with Maternal Grandmother and was in agreement with Maternal

Grandmother’s intent to pursue custody. (N.T. Hearing, 11/5/19, at 5).

Counsel for Maternal Grandmother then offered the following argument:

[Maternal Grandmother] is the biological mother of [Mother], and biological grandmother to the subject child[.] She did not have a relationship with [Child] prior to on or about August of 2019, which I will go into more depth with respect to that in a moment. The reason for the Petition to Intervene was due to the reasons contained, again, on information received and as outlined in the petition. With respect to standing, [Maternal Grandmother] being the biological grandmother, she did—again, she did not see or have any contact with [C]hild, but the argument would be made that nor did [Paternal Grandmother] until she received custody of [C]hild via emergency custody on or about May 2019. [Maternal Grandmother] would [indicate] that she does—she has consulted with [Mother], who’s indicated that she would like [Maternal Grandmother] to enter, have standing so that she can have, develop, and cultivate a relationship with [Child].

The reason for the issue at bar, is the—pursuant to [23 Pa.C.S.A.

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Bluebook (online)
M.D. v. C.D. & N.S., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/md-v-cd-ns-pasuperct-2020.