Morris v. Morris

37 Pa. D. & C.5th 1
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Berks County
DecidedJanuary 10, 2014
DocketNo. 08-15427 #3
StatusPublished

This text of 37 Pa. D. & C.5th 1 (Morris v. Morris) 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
Morris v. Morris, 37 Pa. D. & C.5th 1 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2014).

Opinion

LASH, J.,

The matters before this court are the petition of plaintiff, Lisa Ann Morris (hereinafter “mother”), for a modification of a custody order and the corresponding counterclaim filed by defendant, Arthur Layton Morris, Jr. (hereinafter “father”). [3]*3Both parties are before this court seeking primary custody of their minor son and a modification of a custody order entered by this court by agreement on January 26, 2010. Trial was held on January 2, 2014. This court enters the following findings of fact:

I.FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Plaintiff, Lisa Ann Morris (hereinafter “mother”), is an adult individual who currently resides at 202 Hopewell Street, Birdsboro, Berks County, Pennsylvania 19508.

2. Defendant, Arthur Layton Morris, Jr., (hereinafter “father”), is an adult individual who currently resides at 164 Icedale Road, Honeybrook, Chester County, Pennsylvania 19344.

3. The parties are the natural parents of a son, D.S.M., bom November 11, 2004, (hereinafter “minor child”).

4. The parties were formerly husband and wife, having been married on August 9, 2002. The parties separated on July 22, 2007, and were divorced on January 7, 2011.

5. Since the time of separation, mother has been the primary custodian of the minor child.

6. The custody action was initiated by mother through the divorce complaint filed in November of 2008. The parties subsequently filed a stipulation, which the court entered as an order on January 26, 2010. The order provided, among other things, that the parties would share legal custody of the minor child, that mother would have primary physical custody, and that father would have partial custody on alternating weekends from Fridays at 5:00 p.m. until Sundays at 8:30 p.m., and every Monday and Wednesday night from 5:00 p.m. until the following [4]*4Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m.

7. On or about July 23, 2012, father filed a petition to modify the custody order. However, on December 17, 2012, he filed a praecipe to withdraw the petition to modify, because he had decided to move to Florida for work-related reasons.

8. After residing in Florida for a short time, approximately a month, father returned to Pennsylvania. Concurrently, mother filed a petition to modify the custody order, on or about January 29, 2013. Father filed his counterclaim on April 16, 2013.

9. Mother currently resides with the minor child’s maternal grandmother, Linda Finney, mother’s 18 year old son, Brandon Davidheiser, and the minor child.

10. Father resides with his wife, Stacy, and her daughter, Isabella, age 11. Father has an 18 year old son, Jesse, and a 17 year old daughter, Andrea, who reside with their mother. Andrea is currently estranged from father.

11. Mother’s home is located in an urban setting, while father resides in a more rural area. The minor child has his own bedroom in both houses. The minor child has pets in both households, a dog at father’s and turtles at mother’s. Both homes are environmentally suitable for rearing a minor child.

12. Mother resides in the Daniel Boone School District. Father resides in the Coatesville School District. The minor child attends Birdsboro Elementary Center in the Daniel Boone District and is in the third grade.

13. The minor child has had some difficulties in school, [5]*5particularly in reading. An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is now being administered to the minor child for the 2013-2014 school year.

14. Mother is employed as a customer service assistant at Polymeric Systems in Elverson, Pennsylvania. Her work hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. She leaves for work approximately 7:30 a.m. and returns at about 5:30 p.m. The maternal grandmother cares for the minor child after mother leaves for work, ensuring that he gets on the school bus and is also available for him when he returns home on the bus from school.

15. Father is employed by the County of Chester as an information technician. His work hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. On weekdays when he has the minor child overnights, father drops the minor child off at mother’s home between 7:00 a.m. and 7:15 a.m.

16. Father provides all the transportation. The parties meet at a convenience store in Gibraltar, Pennsylvania, for the pick up and drop off.

17. An independent psychological evaluation was compiled by Matt Shollenberger, Ph.D., P.C. The evaluator conducted interviews, family genograms, and administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 RF tests, two (2) parent relationship questionnaires, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Michigan Alcohol Screening tests, and conducted home visits of the parties’ residences. He compiled a written report dated June 24, 2013.

II. DISCUSSION

[6]*6In making disposition, this court considered the testimony of the parties, the maternal grandmother, Linda Finney, father’s wife, Stacy, father’s 17 year old daughter, Andrea Morris, the expert testimony of Dr. Shollenberger, an in camera conference with the minor child, and the exhibits of the parties.

The presentation of both parties emphasized the perceived negative attributes of the other party. There were few positive characteristics cited by one party in favor of the other. In speaking of themselves, both parties emphasized their desire for primary custody, their wish to spend as much time with the minor child as possible, and their belief of being better suited than the other to oversee the minor child’s needs in education and health care. Both pointed out their recreational interactions with the minor child. Father’s wife testified of bike rides, swimming, walking in parks, and movies. Mother similarly noted bicycling, hiking, spending time at Hopewell Lake, kite flying, going to the mall, and seeing movies.

Father’s concerns were various and in some cases substantial. A problem in mother’s household has been her relationship with William Quinley. Mr. Quinley was abusive to mother, including at least on one occasion in front of the minor child, with mother obtaining a protection from abuse order against him. The police had to be called to her home. On one occasion, he pointed a gun at father. He also threatened to come to father’s employment while father was employed at Great Valley School District to settle some issues. Father reported this to the school administration, who viewed this as a risk and took necessary precautions, and was a factor in father’s separating from his employment with Great Valley. [7]*7Mother testified that the relationship with Mr. Quinley ended approximately a year ago and that she has not had contact with him. Father suspects otherwise, particularly since Mr. Quinley contacted the evaluator in June 2013.

Father also outlined the difficulties he has with mother in co-parenting the minor child. Mother refuses to communicate with him. She refuses to allow him to pick the minor child up at her residence, which results in father having to drive an additional fifteen minutes one way to a convenience store in Gibraltar where the transfer takes place. On one occasion, mother struck father in the face, resulting in mother being charged with and found guilty of harassment before a magisterial district judge.

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Related

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
37 Pa. D. & C.5th 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morris-v-morris-pactcomplberks-2014.