I get asked what it is like to go to Custody Court in Philadelphia County fairly often. I am going to try to describe the experience and proffer some opinions about the situation. Please note that these opinions are my impressions and determinations based upon experience. They are the impressions of one counsel and others may have significantly different perceptions. So please have some perspective on what I am saying.
Typically, one of the parent’s files something having to do with custody. Most often it is a request for modification as one parent believes that their child’s circumstances need to be changed. Obviously one of the parents believe that they should have greater control and / or greater time with their child. So, you file documents with the Court and if you have done so properly and served it on the other party property, you typically get something in the mail that schedules a hearing of some sort.
Different petitions obviously have different results but most often you are assigned to a custody master first. The hearing notice tells you to go to the shiny new building on 1501 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102. You are asked to go through security. You wait in the line and go through a metal detector and your bags are x-rayed and searched. Please do not be stupid enough to have illegal substances or weapons with you as the police WILL find them and frankly it won’t look good in front of the custody master or Judge. You go through the scanners and then take the elevators to the floor you are directed to attend.
You go through the elevator doors and go into a room that is large and filled with plastic and metal seats and you will be asked to check in with someone and fill out some forms with basic information about where you live, your date of birth and the name of your case along with some other identifying information. You should bring your hearing notice with you as the police and the other Court workers are helpful. The bottom line here is that you should treat them with respect. If you act respectfully to them, they will treat you with equal respect. This holds true of almost every aspect of this process. If you get angry you can expect less help and less cordiality.
You fill out the forms and they will ask you if you have an attorney. Many people do not have counsel because they can’t afford it or don’t feel like they need counsel because they think the situation is obvious. It isn’t. Also, frankly, much of what you likely think is important, simply isn’t. If you can afford counsel – even just speaking to one to get advice, it is worth the money.
Now your case is usually on a list. If both parties have counsel, it has been my experience that you get put on the back of the list, not the front. Why? You ask. Isn’t it less respectful to take the people who have counsel and make them wait? Here we fall into opinion. It is my impression that the Court does this because the Court expects counsel to discuss the case, control their clients and reach some sort of an agreement. The extra time outside waiting is meant to facilitate the chances of the parties coming to some agreement.
If you can’t agree eventually you are brought into a small courtroom with a place for the mediator that looks like the Judge’s seat on TV. There are also two long rectangular tables where you will be told to sit. The master will walk into the room and ask for basic information from the parties. He or she will ask about addresses and try to get a feel for the parties based upon both the documents filed and his or her perception of the parties. Try to be calm and collected. The hearing is informal, but the Master may adhere to the rules of evidence and limit the evidence you try to present and the statements you make. The one major perception (again we have an opinion coming) is that the Master tends to try to determine if the requests for custodial change are based upon firm evidentiary grounds and also tries to determine if one of the parties is being unreasonable. The person who is being unreasonable in the perception of the Master usually does not come out of the hearing well. The hearing usually lasts about a half hour and the Master makes a recommendation. The Master does not tell the parties what he or she has decided and provides these opinions to a Judge who will then enter an Order. Sometimes the Orders come out quickly and sometimes they come out weeks and weeks later.
I will cover Judicial hearings in a later post.