Court Opinion

ID: 9649441
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 14:53:26.220292+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:10.725473
License: Public Domain

WIEAND, Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. “Support, as every other duty encompassed in the role of parenthood, is the equal responsibility of both mother and father. Both must be required to discharge the obligation in accordance with their capacity and ability.” Melzer v. Witsberger, 505 Pa. 462, 468, 480 A.2d 991, 994 (1984), quoting Conway v. Dana, 456 Pa. 536, 540, 318 A.2d 324, 326 (1974) (emphasis added). “[E]very parent has a duty to support his or her minor children ... in accordance with the parents’ respective abilities to pay____” Costello v. LeNoir, 462 Pa. 36, 40, 337 A.2d 866, 868 (1975).
In the instant case, the trial court did not find that appellee, the natural mother of a minor child, was financially unable to contribute to the support of her child, who was in the custody of the father. Therefore, an order of support should have been entered. It was not a complete defense to the mother’s duty to support her child that the father’s income exceeded that of the mother.
I would reverse and remand to the trial court for the entry of an order which is consistent with the decision of the Supreme Court in Melzer v. Witsberger, supra.