In S.C. v. J.C., the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the trial court’s opinion that where primary physical custody was switched from mother to father, and mother/father remained at their respective addresses, this change in physical custody did not qualify as a relocation even though mother and father resided 51 miles apart from each other.
Mother appealed the trial court’s decision that awarded primary physical custody to father based on the court’s application of the factors to determine custody set forth in 23 Pa. C.S. §5328(a). Mother believed that because mother and father resided 51 miles apart from each other that the court should have applied the factors to determine a relocation as set forth in 23 Pa.C.S.§5337(h).
The Superior Court rejected mother’s argument and your Bucks County divorce lawyer should be aware of this important decision. The court based their opinion on the fact that neither mother nor father was seeking to relocate from their current addresses, nor did either party intend to relocate. Further, the court noted that father and mother had been exercising their custodial rights at their respective addresses since September 2013. Where the change in primary custodian was not going to impair either parties custodial rights based on location the court refused to apply the relocation factors.