THE COURTS

Title 231—RULES OF
CIVIL PROCEDURE

PART I. GENERAL

[ 231 PA. CODE CHS. 1910, 1915, 1920 AND 1930 ]

Amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure Relating to Domestic Relations Matters; Recommendation 135

[44 Pa.B. 4338]
[Saturday, July 12, 2014]

 The Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee is planning to recommend that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania amend the Rules of Civil Procedure relating to domestic relations matters as set forth herein. This proposal has not been submitted for review by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

 Notes and explanatory comments which appear with proposed amendments have been inserted by the committee for the convenience of those using the rules. Reports, notes and comments will not constitute part of the rules and will not be officially adopted or promulgated by the Supreme Court.

 The committee solicits and welcomes comments and suggestions from all interested persons prior to submission of this proposal to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Please submit written comments no later than Friday, August 8, 2014 directed to:

Patricia A. Miles, Esquire
Counsel, Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee
Pennsylvania Judicial Center
601 Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 6200
P. O. Box 62635
Harrisburg, PA 17106-2635
Fax: 717 231-9531
E-mail: domesticrules@pacourts.us

 Deleted material is bold and [bracketed]. New material is bold.

By the Domestic Relations
Procedural Rules Committee

CAROL S. MILLS McCARTHY, 
Chair

Annex A

TITLE 231. RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE

PART I. GENERAL

CHAPTER 1910. ACTIONS FOR SUPPORT

Rule 1910.12. Office Conference. Hearing. Record. Exceptions. Order.

*  *  *  *  *

 (b)(1) At the conclusion of a conference attended by both parties, if an agreement for support has not been reached, and the conference and hearing are not scheduled on the same day, the court, without hearing the parties, shall enter an interim order calculated in accordance with the guidelines and substantially in the form set forth in Rule 1910.27(e), and the parties shall be given notice of the date, time and place of a hearing. A record hearing shall be conducted by a hearing officer who must be a lawyer.

*  *  *  *  *

 (3) [A] Any lawyer serving as a hearing officer employed by, or under contract with, a judicial district or appointed by the court shall not practice family law before a conference officer, hearing officer [or], permanent or standing master [employed by], or judge of the same judicial district.

*  *  *  *  *

CHAPTER 1915. ACTIONS FOR CUSTODY OF MINOR CHILDREN

Rule 1915.4-2. Partial Custody. Office Conference. Hearing. Record. Exceptions. Order.

*  *  *  *  *

 (b) Hearing.

 (1) The hearing shall be conducted by a hearing officer who must be a lawyer, and a record shall be made of the testimony. A hearing officer who is a lawyer employed by, or under contract with, a judicial district or appointed by the court shall not practice family law before a conference officer, hearing officer [or], permanent or standing master [employed by], or judge of the same judicial district.

*  *  *  *  *

Rule 1915.4-3.  Non-Record Proceedings. Trials.

 (a) Non-Record Proceedings. In those jurisdictions that utilize an initial non-record proceeding such as a conciliation conference or office conference, if no agreement is reached at the conclusion of the proceeding, the conference officer or conciliator shall promptly notify the court that the matter should be listed for trial. Any lawyer employed by, or under contract with, a judicial district or appointed by the court to serve as a conciliator, mediator or to preside over a non-record proceeding shall not practice family law before a conference officer, hearing officer, permanent or standing master, or judge of the same judicial district.

*  *  *  *  *

CHAPTER 1920. ACTIONS OF DIVORCE OR FOR ANNULMENT OF MARRIAGE

Rule 1920.51. Hearing by the Court. Appointment of Master. Notice of Hearing.

 (a)(1) The court may hear the testimony or, upon its own motion or the motion of either party, may appoint a master with respect to all or any of the matters specified in subdivision (a)(2)(i) to consider same and issue a report and recommendation. The order of appointment shall specify the matters which are referred to the master.

*  *  *  *  *

 (4) A permanent or standing master employed by, or under contract with, a judicial district or appointed by the court shall not practice family law before a conference officer, hearing officer [or], permanent or standing master [employed by], or judge of the same judicial district.

*  *  *  *  *

CHAPTER 1930. RULES RELATING TO DOMESTIC RELATIONS MATTERS GENERALLY

Rule 1930.4. Service of Original Process in Domestic Relations Matters.

 (a) Persons Who May Serve. Original process in all domestic relations matters may be served by the sheriff or a competent adult:

*  *  *  *  *

 (3) or pursuant to special order of court.

 Official Note: See Rule 76 for the definition of ''competent adult.'' Service upon an incarcerated person in a domestic relations action must also include notice of any hearing in such action, and specific notice of the incarcerated individual's right to apply to the court for a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum to enable him or her to participate in the hearing. The writ is available where an incarcerated individual wishes to testify as provided by statute or rule, as well as where the individual's testimony is sought by another. Vanaman v. Cowgill, [363 Pa. Super. 602,] 526 A.2d 1226 (Pa. Super. 1987). See 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 4342(j) and Rule 1930.3. In determining whether a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum should be issued, a court must weigh the factors set forth in Salemo v. Salemo, [381 Pa. Super. 632,] 554 A.2d 563 (Pa. Super. 1989).

*  *  *  *  *

 (h) Proof of Service. Proof of service shall be made as follows:

*  *  *  *  *

 (3) Proof of service by a person other than the sheriff shall be by affidavit. The affidavit shall be filed with the court not later than 90 days after service. If a person other than the sheriff makes a return of no service, the affidavit shall set forth with particularity the efforts made to effect service.

*  *  *  *  *

Rule 1930.8. Self-Represented Party.

*  *  *  *  *

 (e) The assertion of self-representation shall not delay any stage of the proceeding.

 (f) The entry of appearance of a self-represented party shall be substantially in the following form:

[CAPTION]

ENTRY OF APPEARANCE OF SELF-REPRESENTED PARTY
PURSUANT TO Pa.R.C.P. No. 1930.8

 I, _________________ , Plaintiff or Defendant (circle one), represent myself in the within action.

 REMOVAL OR WITHDRAWAL OF COUNSEL OF RECORD (If Applicable)

 _____ Remove _________________ , Esq., as my attorney of record.

 _____ Withdraw my appearance for the filing party.

 ______ Esq. (Print name) ID#______

 ______ Signature   DATE: ______

 I understand that I am under a continuing obligation to provide current contact information to the court, to other self-represented parties, and to attorneys of record.

 All pleadings and legal papers can be served on me at the address listed below:

_________________
Print Name

_________________  ______
Signature             Telephone number

_________________  ______
Address             FAX

_________________  ______
City, State, Zip Code      Date

 THE PARTY FILING THIS ENTRY OF APPEARANCE MUST PROVIDE NOTICE BY SENDING A COPY TO ALL PARTIES AND ATTORNEYS, INCLUDING ATTORNEY REMOVED FROM THE CASE.

Explanatory Comment—2013

 Withdrawal of appearance by counsel of record without the entry of appearance by a self-represented party is governed by Pa.R.C.P. No. 1012. Service of original process in domestic relations matters is governed by Pa.R.C.P. No. 1930.4. Service of legal papers other than original process is governed by Pa.R.C.P. No. 440.

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 14-1419. Filed for public inspection July 11, 2014, 9:00 a.m.]

---

No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.

This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.

---