Court Opinion

ID: 9747225
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 15:04:30.044844+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:21.468743
License: Public Domain

*343FLAHERTY, Chief Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the affirmance of the award of custody to appellee, but write separately to express that I favor the approach to custody determinations set forth in my concurring opinion in Ellerbe v. Hooks, 490 Pa. 363, 371-74, 416 A.2d 512, 515-17 (1980), which was followed by a plurality of this court in Rowles v. Rowles, 542 Pa. 443, 668 A.2d 126 (1995). That approach discards the presumption that a parent has a prima facie right to custody against third parties and substitutes a standard requiring that custody be determined by a preponderance of the evidence, weighing parenthood as a strong factor for consideration. Id. at 447, 668 A.2d at 128.