Pennsylvania Weighs Child Shared Custody Bill

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House Judiciary Committee Weighs Equal Child Custody Bill

Monday, December 9th 2019, 3:59 PM ESTby Cody Carlson

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Harrisburg, PA (WENY)-- A proposed Bill in Pennsylvania that would give parents who are separated or divorced equal custody of their children was discussed in the Capitol Monday morning. The subcommittee on Family Law, part of the PA House Judiciary Committee, held a public hearing on the proposal. It lasted about two hours, and it featured 12 speakers over 6 panels, all presenting their reasons why or why not House Bill 1397 should be passed.

“House Bill 1397 would create the presumption that between 40 and 60% of the child’s time should be spend with each parent. That is that such an arrangement would be in the child’s best interest,” says Representative Susan Helm (R-Dauphin, Lebanon), who is sponsoring the Bill.

House Bill 1397 would impose a presumption of shared, equal physical and legal custody, ending the “custodial” and “non-custodial” model of split custody. A Judge can decide to not award equal custody, but if that’s the case, the Judge must submit written reasons why. Rep. Helm says research shows children are likely to do better in school and stay out of legal trouble if both parents are equally present. Supporters say just 15% of custody cases end with equal parenting rights, and that should change.

“We believe that we would have a much healthier society and families if we get to that, and we believe that this Bill should bring us closer to what should be normalized,” explains Stephen Meehan, Volunteer Chairman for the Pennsylvania Affiliate of the National Parents Organization.

Read more from the Bill's sponsor here.

Two panels, and many in attendance, were in support of House Bill 1397, as they represented groups such as Americans for Equal Shared Parenting, the National Parents Organization, Parental Alienation Awareness of PA, and Pennsylvania Bikers For Justice, among others.

4 out of 6 panels were against the Bill, though. They included family court lawyers, Coalitions Against Domestic Violence and Rape, and Judges. Many say equal custody can severely affect a child’s schedule, as they constantly move back and forth between households. Others testify that the current process of awarding custody is carefully considered by judges through 16 factors, carefully tailored toward each case. They this Bill would ruin the process in place, and take the focus away from the child.

“Our focus currently remains on the child. If House Bill 1397 becomes our law, our evolution is going to freeze right in its tracks. It will be worse, we’re actually going to go backwards, and we will not be focused on the child, which is our sole and most important focus that we all could have,” says Michael Bertin., Chair of Family Law Section with the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

An additional 20 people submitted written testimony. We now wait to see how the House will choose to move forward regarding this Bill.

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