Talik, K. v. Meals, J.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 4, 2025
Docket1025 WDA 2024
StatusUnpublished

This text of Talik, K. v. Meals, J. (Talik, K. v. Meals, J.) 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
Talik, K. v. Meals, J., (Pa. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

J-A02036-25

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

KAYLA C. TALIK : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant : : : v. : : : JORDAN J. MEALS : No. 1025 WDA 2024

Appeal from the Order Entered August 15, 2024 In the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County Civil Division at No(s): 2016-90715

BEFORE: KUNSELMAN, J., MURRAY, J., and BECK, J.

MEMORANDUM BY BECK, J.: FILED: March 4, 2025

Kayla C. Talik (“Mother”) appeals from the custody modification order

related to K.O. (“Child”), which awarded Jordan J. Meals (“Father”) and Mother

shared legal custody and Father primary physical custody of Child during the

school year.1 Mother challenges the weight of the evidence regarding the trial

court’s consideration of the custody factors of the Child Custody Act,2 23

____________________________________________

1 Although this appeal involves a custody action, we will use the parties’ names in the caption “as they appeared on the record of the trial court at the time the appeal was taken.” Pa.R.A.P. 904(b)(1). “[U]pon application of a party and for cause shown, an appellate court may exercise its discretion to use the initials of the parties in the caption based upon the sensitive nature of the facts included in the case record and the best interest of the child.” Pa.R.A.P. 904(b)(2); see also Pa.R.A.P. 907(a). Neither party applied for the use of initials in the caption. We will, however, refer to the minor involved in this custody dispute as “Child” to protect her identity.

2 23 Pa.C.S. §§ 5321-5340. J-A02036-25

Pa.C.S. § 5328(a); the trial court’s specific findings with respect to subsections

(a)(2) and (3); and the trial court’s decision to not conduct an analysis under

subsection (a)(2.1). We affirm.

Mother and Father are the natural parents of Child. Mother and Father

began dating in April 2014 and Mother became pregnant with Child in May

2015. Child was born in February 2016. Mother and Father never married,

shared a tumultuous relationship throughout 2016 and 2017, and

permanently separated in June 2017. At that time, Mother resided in Butler

County and Father moved to Cumberland County. From June 2017 until

August 2022, the parties agreed that they would have shared legal custody of

Child and that Mother would have primary physical custody of Child during the

school year.

Mother subsequently married Matthew Owens (“Stepfather”) with whom

she has one daughter, Child’s half-sister. Stepfather also has two daughters

from a previous relationship. Father later married Amy Meals (“Stepmother”)

with whom he has one son, Child’s half-brother. Stepmother has one son

from a previous relationship. Father also has another daughter from a

relationship predating his time with Mother.

-2- J-A02036-25

In August 2022, Father filed a petition pursuant to the Protection From

Abuse (“PFA”) Act3 against Mother and Stepfather. The trial court summarized

the remaining procedural history of the case as follows:

A temporary PFA was issued against Mother … and [Stepfather] in August of 2022 after Father’s family overheard [Child] … stating to her half-sister that [Stepfather sexually] abused her. [Child] had previously primarily resided with Mother and attended school in Butler County. Following the PFA, [Child] has primarily resided with Father … and attended school in Cumberland County. The PFA against Mother was dropped on March 10, 2023. On March 13, 2023, a petition for modification of custody was filed by Mother against Father concerning [Child]. Father subsequently filed a counterclaim. The parties attended an unsuccessful custody conciliation on June 6, 2023. A hearing on the PFA against [Stepfather] was held the same day on June 6, 2023, where [Child] testified to the court. A final PFA was entered against [Stepfather] that date for a period of two years. The parties appeared for a pre-trial conference on September 26, 2023. A custody trial was scheduled to commence on November 21, 2023, but was continued to June [4 and 5, 2024] by a consented to agreement by the parties. Trial was held on those dates, and an additional day of trial was scheduled and heard on July 31, 2024. The parties were directed to file and serve on the court findings of fact and conclusions of law by August 7, 2024.

Trial Court Opinion, 8/15/2024, at 1-2 (unnecessary capitalization omitted).

On August 15, 2024, the trial court entered an order providing Mother

and Father with shared legal custody of Child and Father primary custody of

Child during the school year. Mother timely appealed to this Court and

complied with Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925. Mother

presents the following issues for review:

3 23 Pa.C.S. §§ 6101-6122

-3- J-A02036-25

1. Did the trial court err in its analysis of 23 Pa.C.S.[] § 5328(a)(2), as there is no continued risk of harm to [Child] in Mother’s care[?]

2. Did the trial court err in failing to complete a 23 Pa.C.S.[] § 5328(a)(2.1) analysis regarding the consideration of child abuse and involvement of child protective services, when presumably an award of primary custody was made to Father on the basis of a PFA[?]

3. Did the trial court err in its analysis of 23 Pa.C.S.[] § 5328(a)(3), as it fails to provide for the parental duties provided for by Mother from the time [Child] was born until August 2022, nor does it expand on who performs the parental duties while [Child] is at Father’s residence[?]

4. Did the trial court err and/or abuse its discretion in reaching the order of court awarding Father primary custody, against the weight of the evidence, the court’s credibility determinations, and the court’s determination of the custody factors[?]

5. Did the trial court err and/or abuse its discretion in reaching the order of court awarding Father primary custody, which unreasonable in light of the sustainable findings of the court[?]

6. Did the trial court err in its conclusion that Father shall be awarded primary custody of [Child], based upon the court’s analysis of the custody factors, which largely favor Mother[?]

Mother’s Brief at 20 (unnecessary capitalization and typographical errors

omitted).4

Our standard of review in this case is deferential:

We review a trial court’s determination in a custody case for an abuse of discretion, and our scope of review is broad. Because we cannot make independent factual determinations, we must accept the findings of the trial court that are supported by the evidence. We defer to the trial judge regarding credibility and the ____________________________________________

4 We reordered the issues for ease of review.

-4- J-A02036-25

weight of the evidence. The trial judge’s deductions or inferences from its factual findings, however, do not bind this Court. We may reject the trial court’s conclusions only if they involve an error of law or are unreasonable in light of its factual findings.

C.A.J. v. D.S.M., 136 A.3d 504, 506 (Pa. Super. 2016) (citation omitted).

As with all custody-related matters, this Court’s “paramount concern is

the best interest of the child involved.” Rogowski v. Kirven, 291 A.3d 50,

61 (Pa. Super. 2023) (quotation marks and citation omitted). “This standard

requires a case-by-case assessment of all the factors that may legitimately

affect the physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual well-being of the child.”

M.J.M. v. M.L.G., 63 A.3d 331, 334 (Pa. Super. 2013) (citation omitted). To

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Bluebook (online)
Talik, K. v. Meals, J., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/talik-k-v-meals-j-pasuperct-2025.