Court Opinion

ID: 9732255
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 16:13:12.353785+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:25.521776
License: Public Domain

NIX, Chief Justice,
concurring.
I disagree with the majority’s holding that no “substantial change in circumstances” need be shown before a court may modify a previously entered partial custody award. The conclusion drawn by the majority, that a requested modification of a custody order where shared custody is sought is to be entertained at any time will, in my view, have a deleterious impact upon the stability of the lives of children whose parents have been divorced.
*609The best interest of the child has been evaluated and acted upon by the court at the time a custody award is made. To permit parents to petition the court for modification of the custody award merely upon an allegation of the child’s best interest would result in an endless stream of litigation, which in turn, would be unduly burdensome to our trial courts as well as unsettling to the parties. The stability of a relationship is essential to the best interest of the child and should be left undisturbed, absent a substantial change in circumstances which suggests that the previous judgment of the best interest of the child may no longer be valid.
I recognize, however, that the vicissitudes of life necessitate affording parents a basis upon which to seek modification of a custody award in compelling situations. For this reason, the “substantial change in circumstances” test has been adopted in this Commonwealth. I see no reason why this most legitimate standard is to be discarded simply because the appellant-father was originally awarded partial custody of his son and is now seeking modification of that order to an order of shared custody.
In my view, the applicable statutory provisions, 23 P.S. §§ 5304, 5310 do not compel the elimination of the substantial change in circumstances requirement. These provisions, as the Superior Court observed, simply permit the lower courts to entertain a petition for modification to shared custody at any time the threshold test has been met. Once the petitioner has established a substantial change in circumstances, justifying a reexamination of the original order,1 the court is to be guided by the “best interest of the child” standard in ruling on the petition for modification. The cogent reasoning employed by the Superior Court on this issue should not be lightly dismissed. See Karis v. *610Karis, 353 Pa.Super. 561, 568-569, 510 A.2d 804, 808-809 (1986). See also Constant A. v. Paul C.A., 344 Pa.Super. 49, 496 A.2d 1 (1985); Agati v. Agati, 342 Pa.Super. 132, 492 A.2d 427 (1985).
However, I agree with the majority that the lower court did not abuse its discretion in granting appellant the relief requested. The court first found that a substantial change of circumstances existed since entry of the custody award, and thereafter, determined that the best interest of Christopher Karis would be realized by the proposed modification. Judge Canuso, in my view, conducted the proper two-part inquiry and the record clearly supports the order entered by the hearing court. It is for this reason that I would reverse the order of the Superior Court and reinstate the order entered in the court of common pleas.

. I concede that, since shared custody is a newly recognized relationship and may not have been available when the court previously acted to determine the question of custody, it may, in appropriate cases, be determined that this new alternative, in and of itself, supports a finding of substantial change in circumstances to permit reassessment of the question of custody.