Court Opinion

ID: 9647957
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 13:56:43.301496+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:54.911003
License: Public Domain

CAVANAUGH, Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the result. Our standard of review in considering appeals from support orders is quite narrow. Absent a clear abuse of discretion, a trial court’s determination of the support order’s amount will not be disturbed. Griffin v. Griffin, 384 Pa.Super. 188, 193, 558 A.2d 75, 77 (1989) (en banc). I would similarly find, absent a clear abuse of discretion, that what constitutes or does not constitute an “unusual amount of time” in Pa.R.Civ.P. Rule 1910.16-5-(l) is for the trial court to determine. First of all, trial courts (and permanent hearing officers) are more experienced with the amount of time custody orders award the noncustodial parent with his or her child(ren) and thus are better equipped to decide what is an “unusual amount of time” for a noncustodial parent to be awarded the children. Second, a hair-splitting appellate focus on what constitutes an “unusual amount of time” down to the day, half-day, or even hour detracts from the many other factors that a trial court typically considers in arriving at the proper amount for a support order.
I agree with the interpretation of Pa.R.Civ.P. 1910.16-5(l) as is most clearly articulated in Judge Del Sole’s dissenting opinion in this case. Rule 1910.16 — 5(l) envisions that support orders will be reduced where a noncustodial parent spends an unusual amount of time with the children). However, I agree with the plurality that the trial court has determined that appellant did not spend an unusual amount of time with the children. The trial court determined that it was not unusual for a custody order to give a noncustodial parent custody every Wednesday night and every other weekend beginning on Thursday evening and continuing *265until Sunday evening, and equal access to the children during holidays and vacations. I would affirm the trial court’s decision, as this determination is not a clear abuse of discretion.