Thatcher, R. v. Hack, D.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 27, 2021
Docket1401 MDA 2020
StatusUnpublished

This text of Thatcher, R. v. Hack, D. (Thatcher, R. v. Hack, D.) 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
Thatcher, R. v. Hack, D., (Pa. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

J-A28032-21, J-A28033-21, J-A28034-21, J-A28035-21, J-A28036-21, J- A28037-21

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

ROSIE THATCHER : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant : : : v. : : : DEBORAH HACK : No. 1401 MDA 2020

Appeal from the Order Entered October 29, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Huntingdon County Civil Division at No(s): 2020-01245

ROSIE THATCHER : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant : : : v. : : : GARY HACK : No. 1402 MDA 2020

Appeal from the Order Entered October 29, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Huntingdon County Civil Division at No(s): 2020-01246

ROSIE THATCHER : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant : : : v. : : : GREGORY HACK : No. 1403 MDA 2020

Appeal from the Order Entered October 29, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Huntingdon County Civil Division at No(s): 2020-01247

ROSIE THATCHER : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA J-A28032-21, J-A28033-21, J-A28034-21, J-A28035-21, J-A28036-21, J- A28037-21

Appellant : : : v. : : : CHAD HACK : No. 1404 MDA 2020

Appeal from the Order Entered October 29, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Huntingdon County Civil Division at No(s): 2020-01248

ROSIE THATCHER : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant : : : v. : : : ABBY HACK : No. 1405 MDA 2020

Appeal from the Order Entered October 29, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Huntingdon County Civil Division at No(s): 2020-1249

ROSIE THATCHER : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant : : : v. : : : RYAN HACK : No. 1406 MDA 2020

Appeal from the Order Entered October 29, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Huntingdon County Civil Division at No(s): 2020-01250

BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., NICHOLS, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*

____________________________________________

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.

-2- J-A28032-21, J-A28033-21, J-A28034-21, J-A28035-21, J-A28036-21, J- A28037-21

MEMORANDUM BY STEVENS, P.J.E.: FILED DECEMBER 27, 2021

Appellant Rosie Thatcher (hereinafter “Mother”) appeals from the order

of the Huntingdon County Court of Common Pleas denying her six petitions

for Protection From Abuse (PFA) orders against her family members, Appellees

Deborah Hack, Gary Hack, Gregory Hack, Chad Hack, Abby Hack, and Ryan

Hack. Mother argues that the trial court abused its discretion in concluding

that she failed to show Appellees’ behavior constituted “abuse” as defined in

the PFA Act (23 Pa.C.S.A. § 6102). We affirm.

On October 19, 2020, Mother filed PFA petitions on behalf of her herself

and her husband, John Thatcher, Sr. (“Father”), against her daughter,

Deborah Hack; Deborah’s husband, Gary Hack; Deborah and Gary’s sons,

Gregory Hack and Chad Hack; Chad’s wife, Abby Hack; and Chad and Abby’s

fifteen-year-old son, Ryan Hack.1 On the same day, the learned trial court

held a hearing with Mother’s counsel and Mother, who appeared via telephone.

The trial court entered temporary PFA orders until a full hearing could be held.

On October 28, 2020, the trial court held an evidentiary hearing at which

Mother testified as well as a majority of Appellees, except for Ryan Hack, who

is a minor.2 Thereafter, the trial court made the following factual findings:

1 In her petition, Mother indicated that she was eighty-five years old and that Father was ninety-one years old. 2 Father did not appear at the hearing. Counsel for Appellees argued at the

beginning of the hearing that Mother could not file a petition for a PFA order on behalf of Father, but rather, Father was required to file his own petition (Footnote Continued Next Page)

-3- J-A28032-21, J-A28033-21, J-A28034-21, J-A28035-21, J-A28036-21, J- A28037-21

1. In 2014, Mother and Father deeded their house, located at 760 King Street in the Borough of Petersburg, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, to Deborah.3 N.T., Protection From Abuse Hearing, Oct. 28, 2020 (the “PFA Hearing”), at 55. Testimony as to the reasons for the transfer is scant, but Deborah testified that she believed Father and Mother wanted the house to be in her name, and that there was some fear that otherwise Mother and Father would lose their home. N.T. PFA Hearing, at 58-59, 73. Mother made a vague reference to a possible life tenancy in the property for her and Father, but no evidence was presented establishing one.4

2. Conflict began about a year later, in 2015. Mother has five Chihuahuas that either have acted aggressively toward other people, or have bitten them (this was disputed by Mother). The insurance company providing homeowners’ coverage for the property apparently threatened to stop coverage if the dogs were not removed. Presumably discussion occurred between the parties leading up to this point, but Deborah and Gary wound up engaging an attorney, who sent a demand letter to Mother seeking removal of the dogs. Mother took this as a threat to kick her and Father out of the house. There was also testimony that the dogs are damaging the house. Id. at 13- 16, 34-35, 64, 78.

3. Deborah’s sister, Wendy Thatcher, is often present at the house. Wendy ostensibly is there to serve as a caregiver for Mother and Father. Deborah alleges that Wendy’s presence goes beyond caregiving, and that Wendy lives there full time. Deborah has been seeking to exclude Wendy from the house for some time, starting with demand letters sent to her through ____________________________________________

seeking a PFA order for himself as an adult. Notes of Testimony (N.T.), 10/28/20, at 3. The trial court did not specifically rule on this objection, but deferred consideration of this issue until the end of the hearing. Ultimately, the trial court denied the petitions based on its finding that there was insufficient evidence to warrant the entry of the PFA order. 3 Deborah testified that Mother and Father deeded their home to her in 2014

in exchange for a dollar. Id. at 55. 4 Mother testified that “[t]here’s supposed to be a thing made up when we

moved in. We lived there tenancy our lifetime live at that house, you know.” Id. at 49. However, there is no evidence of record to support Mother’s contention that she had a life estate interest in the property. Instead, Mother agreed that Deborah owned the property.

-4- J-A28032-21, J-A28033-21, J-A28034-21, J-A28035-21, J-A28036-21, J- A28037-21

counsel, and now via a separate ejectment action, CP-31-CV- 1694-2019. Wendy is represented in the ejectment action by the same counsel as Mother for this action, Attorney Sawicki. At the PFA Hearing, Attorney Sawicki sought to use this conflict between Deborah and Wendy as evidence of abuse. She emphasized Mother’s health problems and characterized the ejectment action as an attempt by Deborah to deny Mother a necessary caregiver. N.T., PFA Hearing, at 59-64.

4. Aside from the ejectment action, there appears to have been a long-running conflict between Wendy and Deborah, with Mother aligning with Wendy, and the remaining defendants aligning with Deborah. Separate from the instant action, Mother and Wendy have sought to exclude [Appellees] from the house and the surrounding property entirely. See, e.g., id. at 80, 99-100. Father’s position in regard to the dispute is unknown, but it appears that [Appellees] have sought to keep some degree of contract with him, and he presumably desires this. Id.

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Thatcher, R. v. Hack, D., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thatcher-r-v-hack-d-pasuperct-2021.