Simply because one parent was the child’s primary caretaker during the child’s infancy, this does not act as the major lodestone of a Court’s custody determination. Prior to the current iteration of the child custody factors which was established in 2011, the Courts often made determinations regarding custody based upon what was referred to as the “Primary Caretaker Doctrine.” This doctrine stated that in cases where both parents are considered fit parents, the individual who took primary care (the most care in terms of time and actions) of the child or children should have positive consideration given during the weighting of custody determinations. Commonwealth ex rel. Jordan v. Jordan, 302 Pa. Super. 421, 448 A.2d 1113 (1982). The trial Court was no longer bound to follow this doctrine and instead could use the sixteen custody factors to make determinations regarding custody.
The current statute indicated that all custody factors should be given consideration and the only factors that are more heavily weighted should be those affecting the safety of the child or children.
Importantly in J.C. v. J.W., 2017 Pa. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 4033, the Court found that although the mother had for the most part been the primary caretaker of the infant during infancy, that the Court found that at present, both parents perform significant parental duties. The Court was not obligated to favor the mother or disfavor the father simply because he had not participated in the care of the child in infancy as much as the mother. The Court emphasized that a Court was free to note or consider a parent’s role as a primary caregiver – but this does not have to be the controlling or even the most important factor. The Court is free to make its own determinations regarding the weight of custody factors depending upon the salient facts of any given case.
Thus, a mother who has for the most part cared for an infant child primarily, is not the lodestone of a later custody determination, especially if at the time of trial / hearing, both parties are performing significant custodial duties.