J-A06021-23

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

RUTH LYNN MCQUINN 

Appellant

v.

JENNIFER RIGGLEMAN AND JOSHUA 

DIVELBLISS

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 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

 PENNSYLVANIA

 No. 1104 WDA 2022

Appeal from the Order Entered September 12, 2022

In the Court of Common Pleas of Bedford County 

Civil Division at No(s): 507 for the year 2022

BEFORE: OLSON, J., NICHOLS, J., and PELLEGRINI, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY NICHOLS, J.: FILED: MARCH 15, 2023

Appellant Ruth Lynn McQuinn (Maternal Grandmother) appeals from the 

order dismissing the custody complaint regarding her minor grandchild J.D.

(Child) for lack of jurisdiction. We affirm.

The trial court set forth the underlying procedural history of this matter 

as follows:

[Appellant] is the maternal grandmother of [Child]. Jennifer 

Riggleman [(Mother)] is the natural mother of [Child]. Joshua 

Divelbliss [(Father)] is the natural father of the child. [Child] was 

born on May 30, 2014. West Virginia was the home state for the 

parties and [Child] upon the commencement of the custody 

litigation between the parents. [Child] is the subject of a custody 

order dated February 9, 2021, in Mineral County, West Virginia,

[(the West Virginia court)] at Docket Number 14-D-306. This 

West Virginia custody order grants Mother primary physical 

____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
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custody and further provides for various periods of partial custody 

for Father. 

At some point, Father became incarcerated at the Potomac 

Highlands Regional Jail in West Virginia. Father apparently wished 

[Maternal Grandmother], who also resides in West Virginia, to 

exercise his periods of custody in his place while he was 

incarcerated. By order filed August 15, 2022, the Honorable 

Deanna Rock of the Family Court of Mineral County, West Virginia, 

stayed Father’s periods of custody until April 1, 2023, to resume 

upon his expected release from incarceration. Notably, this order 

specifically retained jurisdiction over [Child] and did not relinquish 

jurisdiction unless it falls under the Uniform Child Custody 

Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act [23 Pa.C.S. §§ 5401, et seq.] 

(hereinafter referred to as UCCJEA). 

On July 7, 2022, [Maternal Grandmother] filed a custody 

complaint in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. [The trial court] held 

a custody conference on August 22, 2022, whereupon Mother

objected to [Maternal Grandmother’s] custody complaint on the 

basis of jurisdiction. Following the custody conference, [the trial 

court] scheduled a telephone conference with the Honorable 

Deanna Rock, of the Family Court of Mineral County, West 

Virginia, pursuant to 23 Pa.C.S.[] § 5410. The telephone 

conference was held on August 29, 2022 and was on the record. 

Following the judicial telephone conference, [the trial court] 

afforded [Maternal Grandmother] ten (10) days to file a request 

for the transcript, supplement the record, or file a memorandum 

of law. [Maternal Grandmother] filed an untimely memorandum 

of law on September 12, 2022. [In addition to] being untimely, 

the memorandum of law failed to cite to any relevant legal 

authority to support her position.

Trial Ct. Op., 10/18/22, at 1-3 (formatting altered and footnotes omitted).

On September 12, 2022, the trial court issued an order dismissing 

Maternal Grandmother’s custody complaint based on lack of jurisdiction. 

Maternal Grandmother filed a timely notice of appeal and complied with 

Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a)(2)(i). The trial court issued a Rule 1925(a) opinion 

addressing Maternal Grandmother’s claim.
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On appeal, Maternal Grandmother raises a single issue for review: “Did 

the [trial] court err by dismissing the custody action filed by [Maternal 

Grandmother] due to improper jurisdiction?” Maternal Grandmother’s Brief at 

4.

The crux of Maternal Grandmother’s claim is that the Bedford County 

Court of Common Pleas should exercise jurisdiction over the instant custody 

action. Id. at 13. In support, Maternal Grandmother argues that although 

she and Father reside in West Virginia, Child resides in Pennsylvania, attends 

school in Pennsylvania, and that “evidence as to [Child’s] care, education, and 

relationship[s] would all come from Pennsylvania.” Id. at 16-17. Further, 

although Maternal Grandmother acknowledges that the West Virginia court 

retains jurisdiction over the instant custody matter under the UCCJEA, she 

asserts it should have relinquished jurisdiction to the Bedford County Court of 

Common Pleas. Id. 15-16.

We begin with our well-settled standard of review:

A court’s decision to exercise or decline jurisdiction is subject to 

an abuse of discretion standard of review and will not be disturbed 

absent an abuse of that discretion. Under Pennsylvania law, an 

abuse of discretion occurs when the court has overridden or 

misapplied the law, when its judgment is manifestly unreasonable, 

or when there is insufficient evidence of record to support the 

court’s findings. An abuse of discretion requires clear and 

convincing evidence that the trial court misapplied the law or 

failed to follow proper legal procedures.

J.K. v. W.L.K., 102 A.3d 511, 513 (Pa. Super. 2014) (citation omitted).
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This Court has explained:

The purpose of the UCCJEA is to avoid jurisdictional competition, 

promote cooperation between courts, deter the abduction of 

children, avoid relitigating custody decisions of other states, and 

facilitate the enforcement of custody orders of other states. One 

of the main purposes of the UCCJEA was to clarify the exclusive, 

continuing jurisdiction for the state that entered the child

custody decree. The UCCJEA is designed to eliminate a rush to 

the courthouse to determine jurisdiction.

T.D. v. M.H., 219 A.3d 1190, 1194 (Pa. Super. 2019) (citations and quotation 

marks omitted, emphasis added); see also 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422, cmt. (stating 

that where there is an existing custody order from a court in another state, 

“[t]he continuing jurisdiction of the original decree state is exclusive”).

Section 5423 of the UCCJEA provides:

§ 5423. Jurisdiction to modify determination 

Except as otherwise provided in section 5424 (relating to 

temporary emergency jurisdiction), a court of this Commonwealth 

may not modify a child custody determination made by a court of 

another state unless a court of this Commonwealth has jurisdiction 

to make an initial determination under section 5421 (a)(1) or (2) 

(relating to initial child custody jurisdiction) and: 

(1) the court of the other state determines it no longer has 

exclusive, continuing jurisdiction under section 5422 (relating 

to exclusive, continuing jurisdiction) or that a court of this 

Commonwealth would be a more convenient forum under 

section 5427 (relating to inconvenient forum); or 

(2) a court of this Commonwealth or a court of the other state 

determines that the child, the child’s parents and any person 

acting as a parent do not presently reside in the other state.

23 Pa.C.S. § 5423; see also V.C. v. L.P., 179 A.3d 95, 98 (Pa. Super. 2018) 

(reiterating that Pennsylvania courts do not have jurisdiction over a custody 
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matter where there is an existing custody order from another state and 

explaining that the plain language of Section 5423(1) “mandates that the 

court of the other state must determine that it lacks exclusive, continuing 

jurisdiction or that a court of this Commonwealth is a more convenient 

forum”).

Here, as noted previously, the trial court held a telephone conference 

with the West Virginia court regarding the status of Child’s custody 

proceedings. At that time, the West Virginia court indicated that it would

retain jurisdiction until either a motion is filed in the West Virginia court to 

transfer jurisdiction of the case to Bedford County or until the West Virginia 

court began “to glean evidence that the connections with West Virginia are 

diminishing and they’re strengthening in Pennsylvania.” N.T. Phone Conf., 

8/29/22, at 6-7.

In its Rule 1925(a) opinion, the trial court explained:

In the instant matter, [the] West Virginia [court] made the initial 

custody determination and entered the initial child custody 

decree. Neither party contests this fact. [Maternal Grandmother]

filed her Bedford County custody complaint on July 7, 2022. At 

all times relevant herein, Father is a resident of West Virginia, 

[Maternal Grandmother] is a resident of West Virginia, and Mother 

and [Child] reside in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and have 

done so for several years. The question before us was whether 

[the trial court] has jurisdiction to entertain a custody petition 

when there exists an active custody case in West Virginia and the 

West Virginia court has not relinquished jurisdiction. Pursuant to 

23 Pa.C.S.[] § 5422 and as it is relevant to the instant case, [the] 

West Virginia [court] retains exclusive, continuing jurisdiction until 

the West Virginia [court] determines that neither [Child], nor 

[Child] and one parent, nor [Child] and a person acting as a parent

have a significant connection to West Virginia and that substantial 
J-A06021-23

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evidence is no longer available in West Virginia concerning 

[Child’s] care, protection, training, and personal relationships; or 

a West Virginia court or a court of another jurisdiction determines 

that [Child, Child’s] parents and any person acting as a parent do 

not permanently reside in West Virginia. The West Virginia court 

has not made a determination that it no longer has exclusive, 

continuing jurisdiction or that there is no longer a significant 

connection to West Virginia. Additionally, Father remains a West 

Virginia resident.

* * *

While [Maternal Grandmother’s] custody petition did not explicitly 

request to modify the West Virginia order, in essence, [Maternal 

Grandmother] was asking [the trial court] to do exactly that.

* * *

Stated plainly, [Maternal Grandmother] must obtain an order from 

the original decree state (West Virginia) stating that West Virginia 

no longer has jurisdiction. The statute is clear that the original 

decree state (West Virginia) is the sole determinant of whether 

West Virginia continues to exercise jurisdiction.

Based upon the information gleaned from the telephone 

conference with the West Virginia [court], it would seem to [the 

trial court] that [Maternal Grandmother] was essentially forum 

shopping in hopes of getting a “second bite of the apple,” as she 

had already attempted to exercise Father’s periods of custody in 

a substitute capacity during his incarceration. Rather than 

allowing [Maternal Grandmother] to exercise Father’s periods of 

custody, the West Virginia court chose to suspend Father’s 

custody until his release from incarceration.

[Maternal Grandmother] disingenuously attempts to argue that 

the West Virginia court stated in an order that it no longer had 

subject matter jurisdiction over [C]hild. That order, dated July 2, 

2019, denied a petition for guardianship filed by [Maternal 

Grandmother,] that was filed approximately three (3) years before 

the instant action when Father resided in Maryland and Mother 

and [C]hild resided in Pennsylvania. Actions in child custody and

guardianship matters are separate and distinct. Additionally, 

during the telephone conference, the West Virginia [court] 

referenced this old filing and recollected that the circumstances of 
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the parties were vastly different, as neither parent lived in West 

Virginia at that time.

Trial Ct. Op. at 4-7 (some formatting altered).

Following our review of the record, we discern no abuse of discretion by 

the trial court in dismissing Maternal Grandmother’s custody complaint. See 

J.K., 102 A.3d at 513. The record reflects that the West Virginia court 

explicitly declined to find that it lacked exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over 

Child’s custody matter or state that Pennsylvania would be a more convenient 

forum. See 23 Pa.C.S. § 5423(1). Accordingly, the trial court did not have 

jurisdiction to entertain Maternal Grandmother’s claim, as jurisdiction is 

properly before the West Virginia court. See id.; see also V.C., 179 A.3d at 

98. For these reasons, we affirm.

Order affirmed. 

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 3/15/2023