Court Opinion

ID: 9731424
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 15:45:05.219225+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:17.812866
License: Public Domain

BECK, Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the result of the majority opinion whereby the trial court order permanently staying the sheriffs sale is affirmed. I agree that appellant-bank (Keystone) has no right to execute on the marital residence because it does not have a perfected lien against it, nor did it file a praecipe for writ of execution until after the court had awarded the property to appellee-wife. The bank, as judgment creditor of appellee’s husband, could only execute against that which debtor-husband had. Despite Keystone’s assertions to the contrary, at the time that the writ of execution was filed, husband no longer possessed an “undivided one-half interest” in the property.
I depart from my colleagues’ analysis at the point where they hold that the trial court’s order is affirmed based on the doctrine of custodia legis. The majority expressly states that its holding is not dependent upon the fact that Keystone failed to file its writ until after the trial court awarded the property to appellee. Instead, the majority explains, “notwithstanding the timing set forth above, the marital residence was in custodia legis, or under the wardship of the court pending the outcome of the equitable distribution proceedings, and, thus, not subject to judicial liens.” (Maj. at 168).
I am concerned that the majority opinion has expanded the doctrine to unprecedented proportions so that it encompasses all of a couple’s property prior to equitable distribution proceedings in a bifurcated divorce. Whether the doctrine should be at all applicable to marital property in a divorce action is *570questionable. See Klebach v. Mellon Bank, N.A., 388 Pa.Super. 203, 565 A.2d 448 (1989) (Johnson, J. dissenting), alloc, granted, 527 Pa. 647, 593 A.2d 420 (1990). Historically, the concept of custodia legis addressed circumstances where a sheriff or other officer of the court was in possession of personal property as a result of an action in replevin.1 See Weicht v. Automobile Banking Corp., 354 Pa. 433, 47 A.2d 705 (1946). It has also been held to apply to circumstances where law enforcement officers have searched a residence, seized drugs and cash therein and held the cash until time of trial. See Commonwealth v. Myers, 298 Pa.Super. 272, 444 A.2d 1170 (1982).
Notwithstanding the origins of the doctrine, I am cognizant that previous panels of this court have made it applicable in suits relating to marital property. However, in both cases cited by the majority, the marital property which was deemed in custodia legis was the subject of a specific court order. In Fidelity Bank v. Carroll, 416 Pa.Super. 9, 610 A.2d 481 (1992), the court had entered an order permanently enjoining husband from encumbering, alienating, transferring or selling any of the marital property; only after this order did the bank (husband’s judgment creditor) attempt to execute upon the property.
Similarly, in Klebach v. Mellon Bank, N.A, supra, the trial court entered the divorce decree and directed the debtor-husband to convey his interest in the family residence to his wife. The conveyance took place five days later. This court held that the creditor’s lien could not have attached during the five day period because under the doctrine of custodia legis, *571the property was immune from attachment.2
A bifurcated divorce unfortunately can take years, sometimes more than a decade, to be fully litigated. I believe it would unjustly bind the parties’ hands if all marital property were automatically deemed custodia legis during the entire divorce action. If this were the case, a spouse who owns a business, for example, would not be able to run the business effectively as she would be endlessly petitioning the court for approval of transactions and business decisions that potentially affect the value of the business.
While I recognize the danger that a party in a divorce might attempt to dissipate his or her assets in order to prevent them from being awarded to the other spouse, there are alternative devices to protect against this result. Where, for example, there is some indication of foul play, intentional waste, or even innocent but unwise business practices, a party can always petition the court for special relief or protection.
Thus, for the reasons set forth above, I concur only in the result of the majority opinion and strenuously dissent from my colleagues’ holding that the marital residence is custodia legis merely because equitable distribution is pending.

. The term custodia legis is defined as follows:
In the custody of the law. Doctrine of "custodia legis” provides that when personal property is repossessed under writ of replevin, property is considered to be in custody of the court, though actual possession may be in either of the parties to the replevin action, and that property remains in custody of court until judgment in replevin action finally determines whether replevining party or prior holder is entitled to possession.
Black’s Law Dictionaiy 346 (5th ed. 1979).

. Tiie creditor's lien could not have attached prior to the divorce decree because at that time the couple owned the property by the entireties; such property is "simply unavailable to satisfy claims of a creditor of only one [spouse].” Klebach, supra, 388 Pa.Super. at 209, 565 A.2d at 450 (citing Patwardhan v. Brabant, 294 Pa.Super. 129, 439 A.2d 784 (1982)).