Chances are that by the time you read this article, Kayden’s Law will have been signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro and we will be within the 120-day period for when it is scheduled take effect. The latest version of the series of bills that will be Kayden’s Law was passed by the Pennsylvania Senate a few months ago and was just recently passed by the Pennsylvania House—unchanged.

Anyone that has followed the history of the different iterations of this set of amendments to the Child Custody Law, and of the unspeakable 2018 tragedy that caused the legislature to re-examine the custody statutes with an emphasis on the safety of children, knows that the suggested changes and additions to existing statutes have been the subject of exhaustive lobbying by groups focused on child safety and the Pennsylvania Bar Association who weighed in heavily on the everyday implications of the suggested amendments. Now that we have the final version of the bill that will be signed and will become law, we can look with certainty at a few of the sections that stand out and represent changes to the laws that may substantially affect the courts’ work, whether a case presents child safety concerns or not.