Wade v. Krause

18 Pa. D. & C.5th 559
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Berks County
DecidedDecember 2, 2010
Docketno. 08-6716
StatusPublished

This text of 18 Pa. D. & C.5th 559 (Wade v. Krause) 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
Wade v. Krause, 18 Pa. D. & C.5th 559 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2010).

Opinion

LASH, J.,

This court held a custody trial on November 30, 2010. Plaintiff, Donald Wade, is seeking partial custody of the parties’ minor child. The court enters the following findings of fact;

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

[561]*5611. Plaintiff, Donald Wade (hereinafter “father”), is an adult individual who currently resides at 1233 Sandy River Road, Axton, Virginia 24054.

2. Father and his fiancée, Nicole Howell, who is employed as a respiratory therapist, are planning to be married on December 11, 2010. Father then intends to relocate to his fiancée’s residence, owned by her mother, located at 3 50 Pervie Bowlick Street, Eden, North Carolina, in January 2011. He states that he and his bride will reside there. His mother-in-law, though the owner of the home, will not be residing there.

3. Defendant, Nicole Krause (hereinafter “Mother”), is an adult individual who currently resides at 2693 West Philadelphia Avenue, Oley, Berks County, Pennsylvania 19547.

4. The parties are the natural parents of a minor child, Tyler Lee Wade, bom March 10,2007, (hereinafter “minor child”).

5. The parties were never married but resided together sporadically until April 18, 2009. Since that date, the parties have lived separate and apart.

6. Mother resides in the Oley School District.

7. Father currently resides with his father and his grandmother, in his grandmother’s house. Father has another child, Ethan Wade, born October 31, 2003, who resides with his mother in Arizona, but who visits with father during the summer months and during the Christmas holiday, through an informal agreement reached between father and Ethan’s mother.

8. Mother resides with her paramour, Guy Rudy, the subject minor child, mother’s daughter from another [562]*562relationship, Elizabeth Krause, bom September 16, 2000, and Mr. Rudy’s children, Guy Rudy, III, born January 1, 2004, and Jaedon Rudy, born September 21, 2006.

9. Father is currently employed by Roll About Skating Center in Eden, North Carolina, on weekdays from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Domino’s Pizza in Martinsville, Virginia, on Fridays and Saturdays from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. or to closing.

10. Mother is unemployed, staying at home to care for the children.

11. The minor child is not enrolled in a school program currently; however, he has been recently tested through BCIU, who recommended that he participate in a speech therapy program. He is also on a waiting list for HeadStart.

12. The within action was commenced by father on October 15, 2009. A temporary order was entered on January 19, 2010 providing that the parties would share legal custody, that mother would have primary physical custody, and that father would have supervised visits on alternate weekends in Berks County on Saturday from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m., to be supervised by Kids First Visitation Services.

13. Father participated in the supervised visitation on four (4) occasions during the course of 2010 for approximately three (3) to four (4) hours each visit. The visits included a trip to Chuck E Cheese, a petting zoo, a park, and otherwise in his hotel room.

14. Other than the supervised visits, father has had no contact with the minor child since the parties’ separation, [563]*563other than a brief ten (10) minute visit when father was in Berks County for a support conference. That visit was not initially agreed to by mother and was conducted in the presence of a police officer. There has also been no phone contact.

15. The parties reside approximately seven (7) to eight (8) hours apart, one (1) way.

II. DISCUSSION

In making a determination, this court considered the testimony of the parties, the maternal grandmother, Denise Taroski, and the exhibits submitted by mother.

Father filed the within action for partial custody, seeking to “see his son as much as possible.” He states that since the parties’ separation in April of 2009, mother has denied him access to the minor child. With the exception of a ten (10) minute visit with the help of a police officer, father has not had contact with the minor child, except for four (4) supervised visits through the Kids First Agency, pursuant to the temporary custody order entered by this court. While the visits were helpful, they were impractical. Father had to travel from his home in Virginia, a seven (7) or eight (8) hour drive, and stay in a hotel, one (1) or two (2) nights, to enable him to participate in the visitation. There was also a cost of forty dollars ($40.00) per hour for the visits. Father states he was not able to take advantage of all the visits permitted to him under the order because he was financially unable to do so. He believes that mother’s resistance stems from father’s requesting a paternity test at a child support conference.

There have also been no phone contacts. Father states he has called mother’s home several times but was never able to make contact. He states he did not leave a message. [564]*564He also did not contact her by e-mail, stating he does not have her e-mail address. Father believes he is capable of caring for the minor child. He cites his agreement with the mother of his other child, Ethan, receiving Ethan for nearly the entire summer and on Christmas holidays. According to father, there have never been any problems with this arrangement.

Father states he has adequate coverage to care for the minor child when he is working. Father’s father and grandmother are available and willing to care for the minor child in his absence.

Mother agrees that father should be permitted to have unsupervised visits with the minor child, but that the visits should take place in Berks County, not in Virginia or North Carolina. For one, father has never been alone with the minor child for more than three (3) or four (4) hours. According to mother, when the parties resided together, father was extremely inattentive to the minor child, refusing to provide any caretaking when mother or some other person was available. He would not change diapers or feed the minor child, nor take the minor child to a doctor visit. In fact, when the minor child was hospitalized for three (3) days, father never went to the hospital, even though, according to mother, the minor child needed to have a family member present at all times.

Mother provided an example of the extent of father’s laxity through his lack of care of his other child, Ethan. During the time when the parties resided together, Ethan would periodically come to visit. Mother and the maternal grandmother would take Ethan on trips, such as to the Kutztown Fair. Father would not participate. Additionally, on one (1) occasion when it was time for father to return Ethan to his mother in Virginia, father refused, forcing [565]*565mother to drive Ethan back herself.

Mother also states that father would make himself unavailable to care for the minor child. When he was not working, he would be away from home playing cards, shooting pool, or being involved in other activities. When he was home, he would often lock himself in the bathroom and remain in there for several hours, running water, and relying on the comfort of a space heater, oblivious to the needs of the minor child.

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Bluebook (online)
18 Pa. D. & C.5th 559, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wade-v-krause-pactcomplberks-2010.