Skomo v. Skomo

844 A.2d 1256, 2004 Pa. Super. 53, 2004 Pa. Super. LEXIS 167
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 4, 2004
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 844 A.2d 1256 (Skomo v. Skomo) 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
Skomo v. Skomo, 844 A.2d 1256, 2004 Pa. Super. 53, 2004 Pa. Super. LEXIS 167 (Pa. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION BY

OLSZEWSKI, J.:

¶ 1 As with most interstate custody disputes, the factual tapestry of this case is fairly intricate. With that said, the facts are as follows.

¶ 2 Denise and Tim Skomo (appellant and appellee, respectfully) were married in 1998. Out of their union, one child, Ryan Skomo, was born on May 14, 1999, in Kansas. Throughout this time and until July 2001, the family lived together in Kansas. In July 2001, however, the parties separated; and at the same time, Denise and young Ryan left Kansas to live in Pennsylvania. They have been living in this state ever since; Tim Skomo has continued to, and currently does, live in Kansas.

¶ 3 On October 22, 2001 (three months after Denise and Ryan left Kansas), Tim Skomo filed a petition for divorce and child custody in the Kansas courts. By order of April 22, 2002, the District Court of Geary County, Kansas, entered a valid divorce decree that also: granted joint custody over Ryan with a corresponding custody and visitation schedule, ordered Mr. Sko-mo to pay child support, and settled any property disputes between the former couple.

¶ 4 When the time came for Mr. Skomo to have custody over Ryan, Denise moved back to Kansas and stayed there until Mr. Skomo’s scheduled custody time expired. Thus, for about three months Ms. Skomo lived and worked in Kansas. After this time, both Ms. Skomo and Ryan moved back to Pennsylvania.1

¶ 5 Why our court system has this case is because of what follows. On June 11, 2002, Denise Skomo filed a complaint for custody over Ryan in the Court of Common Pleas of Potter County, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania court, apparently unaware that a custody order was already in [1258]*1258place, ordered mediation between Denise and Tim Skomo.

¶ 6 Two days later, Denise Skomo filed an emergency petition to modify visitation in that same Pennsylvania court, seeking to suspend Mr. Skomo’s visitation rights. While this latter petition was denied because Ms. Skomo did not produce the visitation order, she filed another petition to modify visitation in Pennsylvania on September 26, 2002. The lower court then granted Ms. Skomo’s petition to modify.

117 After conferring with Judge Steven Hornbaker, the District Judge of Geary County, Kansas, however, the Pennsylvania lower court judge vacated its prior orders. The court found that jurisdiction over this custody matter lies in Kansas, not Pennsylvania. In response, Ms. Sko-mo filed a motion to reconsider. This was granted. On March 13, 2003, testimony was heard in Potter County, Pennsylvania, concerning whether Pennsylvania had jurisdiction over this affair. The trial court found that the Federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (28 U.S.C.A. § 1783A) prevented our courts from modifying the initial Kansas custody order. It thus held that Pennsylvania does not have jurisdiction and could not hear the case. Ms. Skomo now appeals that determination.

¶ 8 During this time, Mr. Skomo was also active in the courts. In October 2002, Mr. Skomo petitioned the Kansas district court for unilateral custody over Ryan. The Kansas court granted this motion and required Denise Skomo to immediately surrender physical custody of Ryan to Mr. Skomo. She is denied any parental time with her son until she applies for visitation in the Kansas court.

¶ 9 This appeal asks whether the Pennsylvania courts have the power to hear Ms. Skomo’s petitions to modify custody. We conclude that our courts do not have this power.

ANALYSIS

¶ 10 Prior to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (the UCCJA), custody jurisdiction across the United States was a mess. As our Supreme Court has noted, initial child custody orders were “routinely modified by non-issuing States, despite the dictates of the full faith and credit clause.” In re Adoption of N.M.B., 564 Pa. 117, 123, 764 A.2d 1042, 1045 (2000). This stemmed from the fact that child custody orders are never really “final.” Our paramount concern is the “best interests of the child,” and we are required to modify such orders when the child’s best interests require they be modified. Choplosky v. Choplosky, 400 Pa.Super. 590, 584 A.2d 340 (1990).

¶ 11 Without uniform nationwide laws, states continually stepped upon the child custody determinations of other states. This was usually initiated when a parent (usually the non-custodial parent) would be dissatisfied with the first child custody determination. This parent would then snatch their child and abscond to another state. In this new state, the parent would argue that circumstances have changed, necessitating a modification of the original child custody order. All that was needed was physical presence of the child.

¶ 12 It is not hard to see that this backdoor manner of child custody modification was detrimental to everyone and everything: it encouraged nasty behavior by parents; children were being kidnapped; relitigation was prevalent; state relations were harmed; custody arrangements were unstable; and forum shopping was occurring on a daily basis.

¶ 13 The UCCJA attempted to rectify this mayhem. As Pennsylvania’s version of the UCCJA states, its purposes are to:

(1) Avoid jurisdictional competition and conflict with courts of other states in [1259]*1259matters of child custody which have in the past resulted in the shifting of children from state to state with harmful effects on .their well-being.
(2) Promote cooperation with the courts of other states to the end that a custody decree is rendered in that state which can best decide the case in the interest of the child.
(3) Assure that litigation concerning the custody of a child takes place ordinarily in the state with which the child and his family have the closest connection and where significant evidence concerning his care, protection, training and personal relationships is most readily available, and that courts of this Commonwealth decline the exercise of jurisdiction when the child and his family have a closer connection with another state.
(4) Discourage continuing controversies over child custody in the interest of greater stability of home environment and of secure family relationships for the child.
(5) Deter abductions and other unilateral removals of children undertaken to obtain custody awards.
(6) Avoid relitigation of custody decisions of other states in this Commonwealth insofar as feasible.
(7) Facilitate the enforcement of custody decrees of other states.
(8) Promote and expand the exchange of information and other forms of mutual assistance between the courts of this Commonwealth and those of other states concerned with the same child.

23 Pa.C.S. § 5342.

¶ 14 These purposes, however, were almost thwarted because “some States refused to enact the UCCJA and many others enacted it with their own modifications.” In re Adoption of N.M.B., 564 Pa. at 123, 764 A.2d at 1045. The old regime that created “incentives to move children across State borders in an effort to obtain a more favorable custody determination” was thus still prevalent.

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Bluebook (online)
844 A.2d 1256, 2004 Pa. Super. 53, 2004 Pa. Super. LEXIS 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/skomo-v-skomo-pasuperct-2004.