Victims and Confidentiality

May 8, 2025

There clearly is a need for some victims of domestic violence to keep their current whereabouts confidential. Some abusers do not have any respect or concern about Court Orders when their emotional or financial interests are concerned. Confidentiality is an essential component of many victims' plans for safety and security. However, there are practical consequences that have an impact on the right of the opposing party to have safe and appropriate contact with the children of the parties or the need to be able to deliver legal papers to the victim in order to disentangle the parties from such things as titles to vehicles, divorce proceedings, and custody arrangements for the children. 

Although a history of violence is a necessary factor to consider in the contact between an abuser and children, not all abusers should be supervised or denied contact with his/her children. The difficulty comes in trying to protect the victims without making it impossible for the other parent to present a custody request to the Court, or to proceed in filing and finalizing a divorce if the parties were married. When the address is withheld, there currently is no mechanism in place to assure the victim can receive the legal pleadings and still protect her/his whereabouts. To some extent, it may actually be of benefit to the victim to either end the legal relationship created by the marriage, or the victim may believe that it is in the best interests of the children that they see their other parent on a regular basis. However, with no idea of where the party is and no ability to provide them with the documents necessary to resolve outstanding issues between them, the interests of the children and of the Court in seeing that economic justice is done in the division of their property, as required in the Divorce Code, cannot be accomplished. I have advocated for some time that there needs to be some way to be able to serve the party with the confidential address, as that term is used in the legal sense*, with the legal documents without compromising their safety and security. I have suggested that the Court establish an office, or give the responsibility to an existing office, to be the authorized recipient of such pleadings on behalf of the person whose address is confidential. It would be the responsibility of that person to keep the office aware of any changes to their actual address, and the pleadings would then be forwarded to the individual by the Court official. In this electronic age, it could be at an email address, however, certainly, not everyone can afford or desires to be on-line.

The Court would have to enter an Order that establishes the recipient as the authorized agent for the purposes of accepting service from the spouse/parent on behalf of the individual. Of course, there will be situations where, through no fault of their own, documents do not make it to the intended recipient. No system is foolproof. I believe that the authority should only be for a specific period of time, forcing any legal proceedings to be activated on a timely basis. Additionally, the Court would not want to be the agent for service for extended periods of time. However, with some thought and care procedures and safeguards in place, it would permit the resolution of these matters to proceed to a conclusion, allowing each side to present their positions and arguments in a forum where the safety of all concerned is respected and protected.

A man is holding a little girl in his arms in an office.

It Is a Wise Child that Knows Who His Father Is

May 9, 2025
It may be one of the oldest and strongest presumptions in the Law, but it seems to be time for the Courts to wake up to the reality of modern living and the complicated interpersonal relationships we weave. There were, no doubt, good social reasons why, in the past, the Courts were protective of the apparent “legitimacy” of children. Being known as, and being called, a bastard had a much more devastating impact on a child than it would today. Now it is more of a general insult rather than a direct expression of a person’s parentage. However, it is becoming less and less accurate that all children born within the dates of a marriage, even while the spouses reside together, are the children of the husband. As more and more children are born to unmarried mothers, and to families whose living arrangements are more fluid than remaining living with the father of the children, it is becoming increasingly more important to acknowledge the biological ties than to turn a blind eye in favor of a legal fiction.
A man in a suit and tie is signing a document next to a judge 's gavel.

Third Party Custody Rights

May 9, 2025
There are several groups of people, other than parents who have an abiding interest and concern for children that have sought custodial time with the children. These include Grandparents, Step-parents, Aunts, Uncles, and siblings. The Pennsylvania Courts have acknowledged the rights of persons who have acted in loco parentis, or who have acted in place of a parent, as many step-parents have, the right to have contact, even primary physical custody of the child or children, whether or not they are related by blood or marriage to the children. However, although the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has stated that there is no presumption of a preference for the parents of the child, as there can be no presumptions in custody cases since the standard is always what is in the “best interests” of the child, third parties have an increased burden when opposed to actual biological parents. The rights of step-parents have been recognized in Pennsylvania since 1977.
A young boy is sitting at a table counting coins.

Support Issues

May 9, 2025
There are several mechanisms for parents who have custody of their children to obtain some child support in Pennsylvania when the other parent is not voluntarily providing it. The most obvious is, of course, to file at the local Domestic Relations Office (DRO). If there is a Protection From Abuse petition filed, a request for an Order for temporary support can be presented, as well, in that action, but there is a requirement to file at DRO within ten (10) days of the entrance of the temporary order. The temporary amount will continue until DRO determines the appropriate amount. DRO is required to apply the Supreme Court’s guideline figures if the parents are unable to arrive at a figure they can both agree is appropriate. Those guidelines, required by Federal Law, are reviewed and changed every four (4) years and, on May 12, 2010, new guidelines were implemented. There have some important changes in the guidelines including the changing of the amounts of support required based on incomes. Essentially, the guidelines are a chart that puts the combination of both parents’ net incomes on the left side of the chart and the various amounts of money (Basic Support Obligation - BSO) deemed necessary to be contributed by both parents based on the number of children as columns beside the income ranges. Then the non-custodial parent’s obligation is a result of multiplying the amount for support on the chart indicated for the number of children and the joint net incomes by the percentage the non-custodial parent’s income is of the total joint net income.