Court Opinion

ID: 9379400
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-15 16:06:47.277144+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:15:57.465828
License: Public Domain

J-A06021-23

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

    RUTH LYNN MCQUINN                          :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
                                               :        PENNSYLVANIA
                       Appellant               :
                                               :
                                               :
                v.                             :
                                               :
                                               :
    JENNIFER RIGGLEMAN AND JOSHUA              :   No. 1104 WDA 2022
    DIVELBLISS                                 :

               Appeal from the Order Entered September 12, 2022
                In the Court of Common Pleas of Bedford County
                  Civil Division at No(s): 507 for the year 2022

BEFORE:       OLSON, J., NICHOLS, J., and PELLEGRINI, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY NICHOLS, J.:                             FILED: MARCH 15, 2023

        Appellant Ruth Lynn McQuinn (Maternal Grandmother) appeals from the

order dismissing the custody complaint regarding her minor grandchild J.D.

(Child) for lack of jurisdiction. We affirm.

        The trial court set forth the underlying procedural history of this matter

as follows:

        [Appellant] is the maternal grandmother of [Child]. Jennifer
        Riggleman [(Mother)] is the natural mother of [Child]. Joshua
        Divelbliss [(Father)] is the natural father of the child. [Child] was
        born on May 30, 2014. West Virginia was the home state for the
        parties and [Child] upon the commencement of the custody
        litigation between the parents. [Child] is the subject of a custody
        order dated February 9, 2021, in Mineral County, West Virginia,
        [(the West Virginia court)] at Docket Number 14-D-306. This
        West Virginia custody order grants Mother primary physical

____________________________________________

*   Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.
J-A06021-23

     custody and further provides for various periods of partial custody
     for Father.

     At some point, Father became incarcerated at the Potomac
     Highlands Regional Jail in West Virginia. Father apparently wished
     [Maternal Grandmother], who also resides in West Virginia, to
     exercise his periods of custody in his place while he was
     incarcerated. By order filed August 15, 2022, the Honorable
     Deanna Rock of the Family Court of Mineral County, West Virginia,
     stayed Father’s periods of custody until April 1, 2023, to resume
     upon his expected release from incarceration. Notably, this order
     specifically retained jurisdiction over [Child] and did not relinquish
     jurisdiction unless it falls under the Uniform Child Custody
     Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act [23 Pa.C.S. §§ 5401, et seq.]
     (hereinafter referred to as UCCJEA).

     On July 7, 2022, [Maternal Grandmother] filed a custody
     complaint in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. [The trial court] held
     a custody conference on August 22, 2022, whereupon Mother
     objected to [Maternal Grandmother’s] custody complaint on the
     basis of jurisdiction. Following the custody conference, [the trial
     court] scheduled a telephone conference with the Honorable
     Deanna Rock, of the Family Court of Mineral County, West
     Virginia, pursuant to 23 Pa.C.S.[] § 5410.          The telephone
     conference was held on August 29, 2022 and was on the record.
     Following the judicial telephone conference, [the trial court]
     afforded [Maternal Grandmother] ten (10) days to file a request
     for the transcript, supplement the record, or file a memorandum
     of law. [Maternal Grandmother] filed an untimely memorandum
     of law on September 12, 2022. [In addition to] being untimely,
     the memorandum of law failed to cite to any relevant legal
     authority to support her position.

Trial Ct. Op., 10/18/22, at 1-3 (formatting altered and footnotes omitted).

     On September 12, 2022, the trial court issued an order dismissing

Maternal Grandmother’s custody complaint based on lack of jurisdiction.

Maternal Grandmother filed a timely notice of appeal and complied with

Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a)(2)(i).    The trial court issued a Rule 1925(a) opinion

addressing Maternal Grandmother’s claim.

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      On appeal, Maternal Grandmother raises a single issue for review: “Did

the [trial] court err by dismissing the custody action filed by [Maternal

Grandmother] due to improper jurisdiction?” Maternal Grandmother’s Brief at

4.

      The crux of Maternal Grandmother’s claim is that the Bedford County

Court of Common Pleas should exercise jurisdiction over the instant custody

action. Id. at 13. In support, Maternal Grandmother argues that although

she and Father reside in West Virginia, Child resides in Pennsylvania, attends

school in Pennsylvania, and that “evidence as to [Child’s] care, education, and

relationship[s] would all come from Pennsylvania.” Id. at 16-17. Further,

although Maternal Grandmother acknowledges that the West Virginia court

retains jurisdiction over the instant custody matter under the UCCJEA, she

asserts it should have relinquished jurisdiction to the Bedford County Court of

Common Pleas. Id. 15-16.

      We begin with our well-settled standard of review:

      A court’s decision to exercise or decline jurisdiction is subject to
      an abuse of discretion standard of review and will not be disturbed
      absent an abuse of that discretion. Under Pennsylvania law, an
      abuse of discretion occurs when the court has overridden or
      misapplied the law, when its judgment is manifestly unreasonable,
      or when there is insufficient evidence of record to support the
      court’s findings.    An abuse of discretion requires clear and
      convincing evidence that the trial court misapplied the law or
      failed to follow proper legal procedures.

J.K. v. W.L.K., 102 A.3d 511, 513 (Pa. Super. 2014) (citation omitted).

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      This Court has explained:

      The purpose of the UCCJEA is to avoid jurisdictional competition,
      promote cooperation between courts, deter the abduction of
      children, avoid relitigating custody decisions of other states, and
      facilitate the enforcement of custody orders of other states. One
      of the main purposes of the UCCJEA was to clarify the exclusive,
      continuing jurisdiction for the state that entered the child
      custody decree. The UCCJEA is designed to eliminate a rush to
      the courthouse to determine jurisdiction.

T.D. v. M.H., 219 A.3d 1190, 1194 (Pa. Super. 2019) (citations and quotation

marks omitted, emphasis added); see also 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422, cmt. (stating

that where there is an existing custody order from a court in another state,

“[t]he continuing jurisdiction of the original decree state is exclusive”).

      Section 5423 of the UCCJEA provides:

      § 5423. Jurisdiction to modify determination

      Except as otherwise provided in section 5424 (relating to
      temporary emergency jurisdiction), a court of this Commonwealth
      may not modify a child custody determination made by a court of
      another state unless a court of this Commonwealth has jurisdiction
      to make an initial determination under section 5421 (a)(1) or (2)
      (relating to initial child custody jurisdiction) and:

         (1) the court of the other state determines it no longer has
         exclusive, continuing jurisdiction under section 5422 (relating
         to exclusive, continuing jurisdiction) or that a court of this
         Commonwealth would be a more convenient forum under
         section 5427 (relating to inconvenient forum); or

         (2) a court of this Commonwealth or a court of the other state
         determines that the child, the child’s parents and any person
         acting as a parent do not presently reside in the other state.

23 Pa.C.S. § 5423; see also V.C. v. L.P., 179 A.3d 95, 98 (Pa. Super. 2018)

(reiterating that Pennsylvania courts do not have jurisdiction over a custody

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matter where there is an existing custody order from another state and

explaining that the plain language of Section 5423(1) “mandates that the

court of the other state must determine that it lacks exclusive, continuing

jurisdiction or that a court of this Commonwealth is a more convenient

forum”).

      Here, as noted previously, the trial court held a telephone conference

with the West Virginia court regarding the status of Child’s custody

proceedings.   At that time, the West Virginia court indicated that it would

retain jurisdiction until either a motion is filed in the West Virginia court to

transfer jurisdiction of the case to Bedford County or until the West Virginia

court began “to glean evidence that the connections with West Virginia are

diminishing and they’re strengthening in Pennsylvania.”         N.T. Phone Conf.,

8/29/22, at 6-7.

      In its Rule 1925(a) opinion, the trial court explained:

      In the instant matter, [the] West Virginia [court] made the initial
      custody determination and entered the initial child custody
      decree. Neither party contests this fact. [Maternal Grandmother]
      filed her Bedford County custody complaint on July 7, 2022. At
      all times relevant herein, Father is a resident of West Virginia,
      [Maternal Grandmother] is a resident of West Virginia, and Mother
      and [Child] reside in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and have
      done so for several years. The question before us was whether
      [the trial court] has jurisdiction to entertain a custody petition
      when there exists an active custody case in West Virginia and the
      West Virginia court has not relinquished jurisdiction. Pursuant to
      23 Pa.C.S.[] § 5422 and as it is relevant to the instant case, [the]
      West Virginia [court] retains exclusive, continuing jurisdiction until
      the West Virginia [court] determines that neither [Child], nor
      [Child] and one parent, nor [Child] and a person acting as a parent
      have a significant connection to West Virginia and that substantial

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     evidence is no longer available in West Virginia concerning
     [Child’s] care, protection, training, and personal relationships; or
     a West Virginia court or a court of another jurisdiction determines
     that [Child, Child’s] parents and any person acting as a parent do
     not permanently reside in West Virginia. The West Virginia court
     has not made a determination that it no longer has exclusive,
     continuing jurisdiction or that there is no longer a significant
     connection to West Virginia. Additionally, Father remains a West
     Virginia resident.

                                 *    *    *

     While [Maternal Grandmother’s] custody petition did not explicitly
     request to modify the West Virginia order, in essence, [Maternal
     Grandmother] was asking [the trial court] to do exactly that.

                                 *    *    *

     Stated plainly, [Maternal Grandmother] must obtain an order from
     the original decree state (West Virginia) stating that West Virginia
     no longer has jurisdiction. The statute is clear that the original
     decree state (West Virginia) is the sole determinant of whether
     West Virginia continues to exercise jurisdiction.

     Based upon the information gleaned from the telephone
     conference with the West Virginia [court], it would seem to [the
     trial court] that [Maternal Grandmother] was essentially forum
     shopping in hopes of getting a “second bite of the apple,” as she
     had already attempted to exercise Father’s periods of custody in
     a substitute capacity during his incarceration.     Rather than
     allowing [Maternal Grandmother] to exercise Father’s periods of
     custody, the West Virginia court chose to suspend Father’s
     custody until his release from incarceration.

     [Maternal Grandmother] disingenuously attempts to argue that
     the West Virginia court stated in an order that it no longer had
     subject matter jurisdiction over [C]hild. That order, dated July 2,
     2019, denied a petition for guardianship filed by [Maternal
     Grandmother,] that was filed approximately three (3) years before
     the instant action when Father resided in Maryland and Mother
     and [C]hild resided in Pennsylvania. Actions in child custody and
     guardianship matters are separate and distinct. Additionally,
     during the telephone conference, the West Virginia [court]
     referenced this old filing and recollected that the circumstances of

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      the parties were vastly different, as neither parent lived in West
      Virginia at that time.

Trial Ct. Op. at 4-7 (some formatting altered).

      Following our review of the record, we discern no abuse of discretion by

the trial court in dismissing Maternal Grandmother’s custody complaint. See

J.K., 102 A.3d at 513.      The record reflects that the West Virginia court

explicitly declined to find that it lacked exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over

Child’s custody matter or state that Pennsylvania would be a more convenient

forum. See 23 Pa.C.S. § 5423(1). Accordingly, the trial court did not have

jurisdiction to entertain Maternal Grandmother’s claim, as jurisdiction is

properly before the West Virginia court. See id.; see also V.C., 179 A.3d at

98. For these reasons, we affirm.

      Order affirmed.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary

Date: 3/15/2023

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