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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 18-1887

THE COURTS

Title 255—LOCAL COURT RULES

ADAMS COUNTY

Rules of Civil Procedure; Administrative Order Number 12 of 2018

[48 Pa.B. 7521]
[Saturday, December 8, 2018]

Order of Court

 And Now, this 30th day of October, 2018, It Is Hereby Ordered that Adams County Rules of Civil Procedure 1910.10 and 1910.11 are vacated in their entirety, and the following Rules adopted:

Rule 1910.4. Commencement of Action.

 (a) General. These rules shall govern all actions for child support, spousal support and alimony pendente lite (APL). The rules shall be interpreted as supplementing the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure governing support and alimony pendente lite (APL) actions.

 (b) Actions for child support, spousal support and alimony pendente lite (APL). All actions for child support, spousal support and alimony pendente lite (APL) shall be commenced by filing a complaint with the Adams County Domestic Relations Section located at the Adams County Human Services Building, 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 600, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. All docketing of the records for child support, spousal support and APL matters shall be conducted by the Adams County Domestic Relations Section, who shall serve as the custodian of the official record for those matters. If filing for APL, the filing party shall provide verification of the divorce filing in the complaint for APL. This verification shall include the docket number and caption of the divorce case. All claims for alimony subsequent to divorce and enforcement thereof shall continue to be filed and docketed with the Adams County Prothonotary, at the parties' divorce case caption and docket number.

Rule 1910.10. Procedure for Establishment of Support and Alimony Pendente Lite (APL).

 All actions for child support, spousal support and alimony pendente lite (APL) shall proceed as described by Pa.R.C.P. No. 1910.11.

Rule 1910.11. Office Conference. Subsequent Proceedings. Order.

 (a) Office Conference. The office conference shall be a non-record proceeding conducted by a Conference Officer at the Domestic Relations Section. The Conference Officer shall be designated by the Executive Director of the Domestic Relations Section. The office conference shall not be recorded.

 (b) Request for Continuance of Office Conference. A written request for continuance of the office conference shall be communicated at least seven (7) days before the conference date via correspondence from the moving party to the Conference Officer assigned to the case. A formal motion is not necessary. The request may be hand-delivered, mailed, faxed or emailed to the Domestic Relations Section. All requests must state the opposing party's position and shall be served by the moving party upon the non-moving party. Ex parte communications are strictly prohibited. If the request is made less than seven (7) days before the conference date, it will be denied absent compelling circumstances. Any party aggrieved by a denial of request for continuance of the office conference may file a formal Motion for Continuance at the Domestic Relations Section which must be served upon the other party. The Domestic Relations Section will forward the motion to the judge assigned to the case. The opposing party's position must be stated in the formal Motion for Continuance, otherwise it may be denied at the discretion of the court.

 (c) Demand for Hearing De Novo. Any party may seek review by the court of the order entered following the office conference by filing a Demand for Hearing De Novo. The ''Demand For Hearing De Novo'' form shall be used to make such a request. An electronic fill-in version of this form is available on the Adams County Court's self-help website under the Domestic Relations Services link at www.adamscounty.us. All Demands for Hearing De Novo shall be filed at the Domestic Relations Section located at 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 600, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 17325.

 (d) Content of the Demand for Hearing De Novo. Designating a Support Case as Complex. The party filing the Demand for Hearing De Novo shall indicate on the form the reasons and issues that the party wishes the court to consider at the hearing, including citations to applicable legal authority. Typically, the court allots twenty (20) minutes to hear each case. In accordance with Pa.R.C.P. 1910.11(j)(1), if a party believes the case will involve complex issues of law or fact, and/or it will take more than twenty (20) minutes to complete, then a Motion to Specially Set Hearing De Novo must be filed and served upon the opposing party. The moving party shall include an estimation of the time needed for hearing in the motion.

 (e) Scheduling and Notice of Hearing De Novo. When a Demand for Hearing De Novo is filed, the Domestic Relations Section shall schedule a hearing before the court and issue written notice thereof to the parties. When a party files a Motion to Specially Set Hearing De Novo, this request shall be forwarded by Domestic Relations Section to the executive assistant to the assigned judge for coordination and issuance of notice of a hearing date.

 (f) Motion for Continuance of Hearing De Novo. All Motions for Continuance of Hearing De Novo shall be filed at the Domestic Relations Section, which shall forward a copy of the Motion to the judge assigned to the case. All Motions for Continuance of Hearing De Novo must state the opposing party's position on the request and shall be served on the opposing party by the moving party in accordance with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, otherwise the Motion may be denied at the discretion of the court.

 (g) Prehearing Memorandum for Hearing De Novo in Complex Cases. For all cases designated as complex, each party shall file a Prehearing Memorandum at the Domestic Relations Section at least five (5) days in advance of the date set for hearing, with service thereof upon the opposing party. The Domestic Relations Section shall forward a copy of the Prehearing Memorandum to the judge assigned to the case.

 (h) Discovery in Complex Cases. When a case has been designated by the court as complex, discovery shall be available in accordance with Pa.R.C.P. Nos. 4001 through 4025. See Pa.R.C.P. No. 1910.11(j)(2).

 (i) Telephonic participation. Consistent with Pa.R.C.P. No. 1930.3, all requests for a party or a witness to participate in a hearing de novo via telephone, audiovisual or other electronic means shall be made by formal motion with good cause shown filed at the Domestic Relations Section at least seven (7) days in advance of the hearing de novo. The opposing party's position on the request must be noted in the motion, otherwise it may be denied at the discretion of the court.

 (j) Motion to Withdraw Demand for Hearing De Novo. A motion to withdraw a demand for hearing de novo must contain the concurrence of both parties, otherwise it will be denied.

Rules 1910.12 to 1910.19. Reserved.

Rule 1910.20. Support Order. Enforcement. General.

 (a) Enforcement. Orders for child support, spousal support and alimony pendente lite (APL) shall be enforced by the Domestic Relations Section, pursuant to applicable law.

 (b) Notice. The notice required by 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4303 shall be as follows:

To: Obligor

 The law requires the Domestic Relations Office to periodically provide approved consumer reporting agencies with your name and the amount of overdue arrearages that you owe. According to our records, you owe $_____ , and this amount will be reported unless you contest the accuracy of the information within the next twenty days by filing a written objection with this office. Your objection should specifically state the amount of money that you dispute is owed.

 Upon timely receipt of an objection, this office will schedule a conference to resolve the dispute.

Dated ______

/s/ Domestic Relations Section Representative

 It Is Further Directed that:

 a. One copy of this Order shall be forwarded to the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts via e-mail to adminrules@pacourts.us;

 b. Upon notification from the AOPC that the local rule is not inconsistent with State Rules, file two (2) certified paper copies and one (1) electronic copy in a Microsoft Word format only to bulletin@palrb.us with the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin;

 c. A copy of the proposed local rule(s) shall be published on the 51st Judicial District website, as well as on the Domestic Relations Section webpage;

 d. This Order shall be filed in the Office of the Prothonotary of Adams County and a copy thereof shall be filed with the Adams County Domestic Relations Section and the Adams County Law Library for inspection and copying;

 e. The effective date of the local rule change described herein shall be January 1, 2019.

By the Court

MICHAEL A. GEORGE, 
President Judge

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 18-1887. Filed for public inspection December 7, 2018, 9:00 a.m.]


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