Opinion ID: 1927407
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Home State

Text: In the instant matter, the trial court determined that Section 5344(a)(1)(i) did not confer jurisdiction upon it because Pennsylvania is not the children's home state. In support of this conclusion, the trial court noted that the children were born and raised in Belgium. The Court further concluded that pursuant to Subsection (a)(1)(ii), the Commonwealth could not be the children's home state since they were here for only two weeks prior to the commencement of the proceeding, rather than the required six months. The trial court also held that jurisdiction did not arise under Subsection (a)(2) because the children's visits each year to their grandparent's home in Norristown was not a significant connection to the Commonwealth. Subsection (a)(3) did not provide jurisdiction either, pursuant to the trial court's analysis, in light of the fact that Mother made no allegations of abandonment or mistreatment. Based on the home state analysis, the trial court held that it did not have jurisdiction of this case. The home state is the preferred basis for jurisdiction pursuant to the UCCJA. Black v. Black, 441 Pa.Super. 358, 657 A.2d 964 (1995), allocatur denied, 542 Pa. 655, 668 A.2d 1119 (1995); Goodman v. Goodman, 383 Pa.Super. 374, 556 A.2d 1379 (1989), allocatur denied, 523 Pa. 642, 565 A.2d 1167 (1989); Warman v. Warman, 294 Pa.Super. 285, 439 A.2d 1203 (1982). Here, the Superior Court agreed with the trial court that Belgium was the children's home state. Relying on Hattoum v. Hattoum, 295 Pa.Super. 169, 441 A.2d 403 (1982), and Tettis v. Boyum, 317 Pa.Super. 8, 463 A.2d 1056 (1983), the Superior Court noted that a child's home state is not necessarily the appropriate forum for a custody determination, and accordingly, the trial court should have considered other bases for jurisdiction. While Hattoum and Tettis stand for this proposition, we note that there are factual differences between those cases and the instant matter, which render them of limited applicability to this matter. In Hattoum, the parents were divorced in Virginia in 1973, and the Virginia court awarded custody of the children to the mother. A year later, both parties moved to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where the court of common pleas entered a consent decree transferring custody to the father. Shortly after that, the mother moved to Argentina with the children, who would spend approximately four months of vacation each year with their father in the United States. This pattern continued from 1974 through 1979, when the father informed the mother that he intended to keep the children permanently. Following a hearing, the trial court determined that it had jurisdiction, and issued an order awarding custody of the children to their father. On appeal, the Superior Court affirmed, and noted that the mother, by agreeing to modification of the Virginia decree in a Pennsylvania court, had placed custody under the jurisdiction of this Commonwealth. In the instant matter, however, there was no preexisting order granting custody to one parent, and the childrens' annual three-week visit to their grandparents' home is qualitatively and quantitatively different from the Hattoum children's four month stays with their father in Pennsylvania. The Superior Court also relied on its decision in Tettis a case in which the parties were living in San Angelo, Texas when mother moved out of the family home in September of 1979. She continued to live in the same city, and visited the children every day. The court entered a divorce decree in May of 1980, with custody given to the father, who was a member of the armed forces. In March of 1981, the mother moved to her hometown in Elk County, Pennsylvania. The father brought the children to their mother for an extended visit in 1981 and in 1982. While the children were visiting in 1982, the mother filed a custody petition in the court of common pleas. The trial court recognized that Texas was the children's home state, but noted that the military had transferred the father to California for a temporary duty assignment before he brought the children to their mother. Moreover, at the time of the hearing, the father was uncertain where the military would post him at the end of his stay in California. Because of the diminishing connections between the father, the children and Texas, the trial court determined that it would be in the best interests of the children for Pennsylvania to retain jurisdiction. In this case, the trial court heard extensive testimony from both parties regarding Mother's allegations that Father intended to move from Belgium to Turkey. While the Superior Court states that Father did not deny his intention to move to Turkey. . . . Dincer, 446 Pa.Super. at 9, 666 A.2d at 284, we note that the following exchange took place between Father and his counsel at the March 6, 1995 hearing: Q: So it is your intention to stay in Belgium? A: Yes. Q: For as long as possible? A: Yes. R. 121a. Although the trial court did not make a specific finding regarding how long Father intended to remain in Belgium, the fact that it concluded that Belgium, and not Pennsylvania, was the home state indicates that the court did not consider the children's contacts with Belgium to be diminishing, as in Tettis.