Court Opinion

ID: 9717664
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:08:05.397853+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:54.615913
License: Public Domain

SCHILLER, J.,
concurring.
I concur in the result reached by the majority. However, I write separately to express my disagreement with the majority’s conclusion that an appellant must demonstrate abuse of discretion by “clear and convincing evidence” in support cases. In my view, this conclusion purports to create a more stringent standard of review than we have historically applied in support cases and, further, confuses the litigant’s burden of proof at the trial phase of the proceedings with the appellate court’s standard of review of the trial court’s adjudication.
Historically, our standard of review in support and alimony eases has been to determine whether
the trial court has, in deciding the case, abused its discretion; that is, committed not merely an error of judgment, but has overridden or misapplied the law, or has exercised judgment which is manifestly unreasonable, or the product of partiality, prejudice, bias or ill will as demonstrated by the evidence of record.
Wagoner v. Wagoner, 538 Pa. 265, 648 A.2d 299 (1994) citing Zullo v. Zullo, 531 Pa. 377, 613 A.2d 544 (1992). While it is true that some decisions of this Court have added the phrase, “as shown by clear and convincing evidence” in conjunction with the abuse of discretion standard, see, e.g., Crawford v. Crawford, 429 Pa.Super. 540, 633 A.2d 155 *224(Pa.Super.1993); Kelly v. Kelly, 430 Pa.Super. 31, 633 A.2d 218 (Pa.Super.1993); Nemoto v. Nemoto, 423 Pa.Super. 269, 620 A.2d 1216 (Pa.Super.1993), it is clear from these decisions that the Court did not place an added burden of proof on the appellant before reviewing the record independently to determine whether an abuse of discretion occurred. As Judge Spaeth stated cogently in his concurring and dissenting opinion in Weiser v. Weiser, 238 Pa.Super. 488, 362 A.2d 287 (Pa.Super.1976)(en banc):
I recognize the limited scope of appellate review in support proceedings. We have often repeated the proposition that, ‘[i]n a support proceeding, the trial judge who sees and hears the witnesses is in a better position than the Superior Court to decide the issue on the merits.’ An appellate court arrives at its decision on the basis of the printed record before it. Consequently, absent a clear abuse of discretion, we will defer to the order of the lower court.... I submit, however, that in the exercise of our review powers, we must do more than accept as given the analysis and conclusions of the lower court. Although we cannot nullify the fact-finding function of the hearing judge, ‘[W]e do, however, have the power to require such procedures as will ensure that the record including the opinion filed by the hearing judge in support of the ... order is complete.’ We are also charged with the responsibility of seeing that the relevant legal principles are correctly applied. Without careful scrutiny of the record to ascertain whether the evidence supports the reasoning of the lower court, this court cannot meet its responsibility of determining whether there has been an abuse of discretion, that is,, whether an order ‘misapplies the law' or reaches a ‘manifestly unreasonable, biased, or prejudiced result.’
Id. at 292-292 (citations omitted). We cannot fulfill our responsibility to ensure that no abuse of discretion has occurred if we adopt the “heightened” standard of review espoused by the majority.
I also point out that the use of the phrase “clear and convincing” is typically associated with a burden of proof at the trial stage of the proceeding.1 I believe that it is improper to characterize appellant’s burden on appeal as demonstrating, by clear and convincing evidence, that the trial court abused its discretion. Rather, it is the duty of the appellate court, based on the record created below, to determine whether such an abuse of discretion occurred. I note that the use of the phrase “clear and convincing evidence” in connection with abuse of discretion appears to stem from Comm, ex rel. Halderman v. Halderman, 230 Pa.Super. 125, 326 A.2d 908 (Pa.Super.l974)(en banc). The Court stated in Halderman, “A finding of an abuse of discretion is not lightly made and is determined only upon a showing of clear and convincing evidence that would require reversal of the lower court.” Id. at 910. However, the cases cited in support of this proposition address the plaintiffs burden at trial to show her entitlement to support and do not address the standard of review on appeal from that trial. Indeed, the Halderman court conducted an independent review of the record and sustained the wife’s claim that she had demonstrated her entitlement to support, without requiring her to show, by clear and convincing evidence, that the trial court had abused its discretion.
I further note that the Supreme Court has eradicated the distinction between “gross abuse of discretion” and “abuse of discretion”, specifically stating that the term “gross” is “mere surplusage” and that there is no separate and distinct gross abuse of discretion standard of review. Moore v. Moore, 535 Pa. 18, 28, n. 4, 634 A.2d 163, 168, n. 4 (1993); see also Wiseman v. Wall, 718 A.2d 844 (Pa.Super.1998)(en banc).
For all of these reasons, I do not adhere to the majority’s view that we have adopted or should adopt a “heightened” standard of re*225view on appeal in support matters. I would analyze the questions presented in this case under the traditional “abuse of discretion” standard. I agree that, under this standard, the Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County dated September 17, 1997 must be affirmed,

. Black’s Law Dictionary, 5 th Edition, defines "clear and convincing proof” as "Proof which should leave no reasonable doubt in the mind of the trier of facts concerning the truth of the matters in issue.”