Court Opinion

ID: 9697812
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 19:31:35.514164+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:35.583822
License: Public Domain

MUSMANNO, J.,
concurring.
¶ 1 I agree with the well-reasoned majority opinion that the custody order must be vacated and the case remanded to the trial court. As such, I respectfully concur. I write separately because I believe that applying the Gruber factors to a shared custody situation, according to our Court’s holding in Thomas v. Thomas, 1999 Pa. Super 249, 739 A.2d 206 (en banc), without first awarding one party primary physical custody, is impracticable.
¶ 2 In Thomas, our Court held that the factors enumerated in Gruber should be considered in cases where the parties share equal physical custody and one party seeks permission to relocate out of the state. The mother in Thomas, who shared physical custody of the parties’ children equally with father, filed a petition to relocate and also sought primary physical custody of the parties’ three children. The trial court analyzed the Gruber factors, granted mother’s petition to relocate, and awarded mother primary custody on the basis that mother satisfied the Gruber criteria. Because our Court concluded that the trial court improperly analyzed the Gruber factors and failed to consider the best interests of the children, our Court vacated the trial court’s order and remanded the matter for another hearing. Thomas, 1999 Pa.Super. 249, 21-22, 739 A.2d 206.
¶ 3 In a concurring opinion, the Honorable Kate Ford Elliott discussed the trial court’s decision to award mother primary physical custody based on its application of the Gruber factors. Thomas, 1999 Pa.Super. 249, 739 A.2d 206, (Ford Elliott, J., concurring).1 Recognizing that a shared custodial arrangement can no longer exist after one parent relocates some distance away from the other parent, our colleague recommended that, in a shared custody situation where one party is seeking to relocate, the trial court first should hold a *394full custody hearing in order to determine which party should be awarded primary physical custody. Id. at 7, 739 A.2d 206. If the trial court determines that primary physical custody should be granted to the party seeking to relocate, the Gruber factors then would be applied to assess the effect of the' relocation on the parties and the children. Id. If the trial court determines that primary physical custody should be awarded to the other party, then no Gruber analysis would be required. Id. I find our distinguished colleague’s reasoning persuasive.
¶ 4 In the present case, prior to Mother’s relocation, Mother and Father had shared physical custody and the children resided equally with each parent. After granting Mother’s Petition, the trial court ordered that Mother have primary physical custody for the entire school year, subject to Father’s periods of partial custody on alternate weekends. Depending on the school system, a school year lasts between nine and ten months. As compared to the prior situation where Father equally shared custody of the children, this modification of the parents’ custody agreement is a significant disruption of the status quo.2 Although the trial court purported to preserve a shared physical custody arrangement, in granting Mother’s Petition, the trial court awarded Mother primary physical custody of the children.
For a grant of primary custody, the court must assess which parent will best serve the physical, intellectual, spiritual, and moral well being of the children. When making this preliminary determination, the relocation issue should not be a relevant fact. This is so because of the tremendous burden on, and obstacle to, the relocating parent to show that a disruption in the status quo will not be detrimental to the children.
Thomas, 1999 Pa.Super. 249, 4, 739 A.2d 206, (Ford Elliott, J., concurring).
¶ 5 In this case, the trial court, in its Opinion, made the following statement: “[w]e do not find that it is in the best interests of these children to lose much of the relationship they have built with their father.” Trial Court Opinion, 1/29/99, at 6. The trial court also noted that Mother testified that, regardless of the trial court’s decision, Mother would move to New Jersey. Id. Although the trial court determined that it was not in the best interests of the children to relocate to New Jersey with Mother, the trial court still awarded Mother primary physical custody based on an analysis of the Gruber factors. This conclusion was error.
¶ 6 I recognize that the trial court was faced with a difficult situation. Mother testified that she would relocate to New Jersey with or without the children, and any decision by the trial court would result in a change in the current relationship between Mother, Father and the children. However, without a determination that it would be in the best interests of the children for Mother to be awarded primary physical custody, the trial court’s grant of primary physical custody to Mother was error.
¶ 7 Shared physical custody is becoming more prevalent in today’s society, and situations such as that presented by the instant case inevitably will occur more frequently. I write separately to emphasize that a shared physical custody agreement cannot be preserved when one party seeks to relocate a significant distance away from the other party. I would follow the majority opinion in Thomas for its holding that the Gruber factors should be considered in a situation where the parties have equal shared physical custody and one party seeks to relocate. I also agree with the reasoning in the concurring opinion in Thomas. I therefore believe that a better result would be that prior to applying the Gruber factors, the trial court must first *395hear testimony pertaining to which party should be awarded primary physical custody. Only if the trial court determines that primary physical custody should be granted to the party seeking to relocate should the Gmber factors be applied to assess the effect of the relocation on the parties and the children.3 On this basis, I would remand for a hearing for the trial court to determine which party should be granted primary physical custody of the children. If the trial court were to determine that Mother should be granted primary physical custody, the trial court then should apply the Gmber factors.

. The Honorable Justin Johnson joined in both the majority and the concurring opinions.

. This testimony may, of course, be presented at a single hearing.

. I note, however, that preservation of the status quo is not alone a sufficient reason to deny a petition for relocation. See Gancas v. Schultz, 453 Pa.Super. 324, 683 A.2d 1207 (1996).