Should a parent who was the primary caretaker of a child during the marriage be afforded special consideration in a child custody dispute? Not anymore, according to the Pennsylvania Superior Court in the recent case of M.J.M. v. M.L.G., 2013 PA Super 40 (March 1, 2013).
In M.J.M., the mother of a 6-year-old child had primary physical custody of the child since birth (the parties were never married). The father filed a petition to modify the custody order and ultimately received primary physical custody of the child; the mother was awarded partial physical custody. The mother appealed the order to the Superior Court arguing, inter alia, that the trial court failed to apply the primary caretaker doctrine in other words, the trial court did not properly consider her role as the child’s primary parent up until that point.
