How long does a custody modification take in a Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas?

Rule 1915.4(a) puts your first in person contact with the court, often a conciliation conference, within 45 days of filing. Rule 1915.4(b) then expects the case listed for trial within 180 days, and the court may dismiss a case nobody lists, subject to a 60 day extension for good cause.

What happens if a Pennsylvania parent moves without giving relocation notice?

Section 5337(j) lets the court treat that failure as a factor on the relocation and on whether custody should change, as a basis for ordering the child returned, as cause to award the other party counsel fees and expenses, and as a ground for contempt and sanctions.

Can the other parent block a move by doing nothing in Pennsylvania?

No, silence has the opposite effect. Under 23 Pa.C.S. 5337(d)(3) a properly noticed party who files no objection within 30 days is presumed to have consented, and 5337(d)(4) bars the court from later accepting testimony that challenges the relocation, even in a subsequent custody petition.

Do I still file anything if nobody objects to my Pennsylvania relocation?

Yes. Section 5337(e) requires you to file before moving: an affidavit that notice went to everyone entitled to it and the objection period passed, the signed return receipt plus the full notice sent, a petition to confirm relocation and modify the order, and a proposed order.

At what age does a Pennsylvania judge follow the child's wishes?

There is no age. Chapter 53 contains no numeric preference threshold. Section 5328(a)(7) weighs the well reasoned preference of the child based on developmental stage, maturity and judgment, and the separate relocation factor at 5337(h)(4) weighs preference considering age and maturity.

Do I have to attend mediation before a Pennsylvania custody modification hearing?

It depends on your judicial district, and Rule 1915.4(a) counts conciliation, mediation or a parenting class as your initial contact with the court. Relocation is the exception: Rule 1915.17(d) states there is no requirement for parenting education or mediation before an expedited hearing.

Who carries the burden of proof on a Pennsylvania relocation request?

Section 5337(i)(1) places it on the party proposing the move, who must establish that relocation serves the child's best interest under the ten factors in 5337(h). Subsection (i)(2) adds that each party must establish the integrity of their own motives for seeking or opposing it.

Can I move first and ask the Pennsylvania court afterwards?

Section 5337(b) provides that no relocation shall occur unless every individual with custody rights consents or the court approves. Moving early also costs you ground: under 5337(l), if you relocate before a full expedited hearing the court shall not confer any presumption in favor of the move.

How to Modify Child Custody in Pennsylvania

Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Pennsylvania · Last updated October 7, 2026

Pennsylvania is the state where asking how many miles you plan to move is the wrong question. Modifying child custody here means asking the Court of Common Pleas that issued your existing custody order to change that order because something about your child's situation has shifted since the judge signed it. Two features drive nearly every Pennsylvania modification. First, there is no waiting period. The whole of 23 Pa.C.S. 5338(a) reads that upon petition a court may modify a custody order to serve the best interest of the child, and the phrase change in circumstances appears nowhere in Chapter 53. Second, relocation is defined by impact rather than geography. Under 23 Pa.C.S. 5322(a) a relocation is a change in the child's residence that significantly impairs the other party's ability to exercise custodial rights, and the word mile appears nowhere in Chapter 53. A move of twelve miles that destroys a midweek overnight can be a relocation, while a longer move that changes nothing may not be. If yours is one, you owe certified mail notice by the 60th day before the move, enclosing a blank counter-affidavit and a written warning that the other party has 30 days to object. You file the Petition for Modification of a Custody Order set out in Pa.R.Civ.P. 1915.15(b), attach the Criminal Record/Abuse History Verification that Rule 1915.3-2 requires, and watch the 180 day clock in Rule 1915.4(b), because a case nobody lists for trial can be dismissed. Keep following your current order until a judge signs a new one. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.

Find out where you stand in Pennsylvania

What is prompting the change to your custody order?

DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.

How do I modify a child custody order in Pennsylvania?

File a Petition for Modification of a Custody Order, set out in Pa.R.Civ.P. 1915.15(b), with the prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas that issued your order. Attach a copy of that order, state why it should be modified, and file the Criminal Record/Abuse History Verification required by Rule 1915.3-2.

Is there a waiting period to modify custody in Pennsylvania?

No. All of 23 Pa.C.S. 5338(a) provides that upon petition a court may modify a custody order to serve the best interest of the child. No section of Chapter 53 sets a waiting period. The forward deadline matters more: Rule 1915.4(b) gives you 180 days to list the case for trial.

How much notice must a Pennsylvania parent give before moving with a child?

Under 23 Pa.C.S. 5337(c)(2) notice goes by certified mail, return receipt requested, no later than the 60th day before the proposed move. A 10 day fallback applies only if the parent could not reasonably have known in time and cannot reasonably delay the move.

Does Pennsylvania have a mileage limit on moving with a child?

No. The word mile does not appear in Chapter 53. Under 23 Pa.C.S. 5322(a) a relocation is any change in the child's residence that significantly impairs the other party's ability to exercise custodial rights, so a short move can qualify and a long one may not.

Pennsylvania custody modification at a glance

Changing child custody in Pennsylvania means petitioning the Court of Common Pleas that issued your existing custody order to change it because your child's circumstances have shifted since that order was signed. Pennsylvania's statutory standard is unusually bare. Section 5338(a) of Title 23 is a single sentence: upon petition, a court may modify a custody order to serve the best interest of the child. Scans of all twenty sections of Chapter 53 return no occurrence of change in circumstances, substantial change or material change, and no waiting period of any kind. Best interest is then measured by the factors in 23 Pa.C.S. 5328(a), which give substantial weighted consideration to the safety factors in paragraphs (1), (2), (2.1) and (2.2). Pennsylvania reserves its detailed statutory machinery for relocation, where a 60 day notice, a prescribed counter-affidavit and a 30 day objection window govern the timetable.

An eighteen mile Pennsylvania move that still counts as relocation

Imagine a shared physical custody order giving the other parent Tuesday and Thursday overnights, and you accept a job eighteen miles away across the county. Because Pennsylvania has no mileage threshold, you apply the 23 Pa.C.S. 5322(a) test instead: the new commute makes both midweek overnights impossible, so the move significantly impairs the other parent's custodial rights and is a relocation. You mail notice on day 61 with the revised schedule, a blank counter-affidavit and the 30 day warning. The other parent returns option 2, accepting the move but objecting to your proposed schedule, which sends you to an expedited hearing under 23 Pa.C.S. 5337(g)(1) on terms alone. You file a petition to confirm relocation and modify the order. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.

Relevant Laws

23 Pa.C.S. 5338 (modification of existing order)

Provides in a single sentence that upon petition a court may modify a custody order to serve the best interest of the child. It sets no waiting period and states no change in circumstances threshold. Subsection (b) was amended by Act 40 of October 27, 2025.

23 Pa.C.S. 5337 (relocation)

The detailed relocation provision: no move without consent of everyone holding custody rights or court approval, certified mail notice by the 60th day before the move, a prescribed counter-affidavit, a 30 day objection window, ten relocation factors, and consequences for failing to give notice.

23 Pa.C.S. 5322 (definitions, including relocation)

Defines relocation as a change in a residence of the child which significantly impairs the ability of a nonrelocating party to exercise custodial rights. This impairment test, with no mileage figure, is what decides whether the Section 5337 notice machinery applies to a planned move.

23 Pa.C.S. 5328 (factors to consider when awarding custody)

Lists the best interest factors the court applies, giving substantial weighted consideration to the safety factors in paragraphs (1), (2), (2.1) and (2.2). Paragraph (7) covers the child's well reasoned preference. Several paragraphs were deleted by amendment, so older factor lists are out of date.

Pa.R.Civ.P. ch. 1915 (custody procedure and prescribed forms)

The Rules of Civil Procedure governing custody actions in 231 Pa. Code. Rule 1915.15(b) sets out the Petition for Modification of a Custody Order, Rule 1915.3-2 the Criminal Record/Abuse History Verification, Rule 1915.17 the relocation notice and counter-affidavit, and Rule 1915.4 the case deadlines.

Regional Variances

Pennsylvania custody modification levers at a glance

Waiting period before you may file

None. Scans of all twenty sections of 23 Pa.C.S. ch. 53 return no waiting period, no bar on modifying within a fixed interval, and no heightened endangerment showing keyed to elapsed time. A petition may be filed at any point after the order is entered.

The deadline that does exist

A forward one. Pa.R.Civ.P. 1915.4(a) schedules initial in person contact with the court within 45 days of filing. Rule 1915.4(b) requires the case to be listed for trial within 180 days or the court may dismiss it, with any good cause extension capped at 60 further days.

Standard to change an order

Best interest of the child, and by statute nothing more. All of 23 Pa.C.S. 5338(a) reads that upon petition a court may modify a custody order to serve the best interest of the child. Best interest is measured by the 23 Pa.C.S. 5328(a) factors, weighted toward child safety.

Relocation trigger

No mileage and no geographic test at all. Under 23 Pa.C.S. 5322(a) relocation means a change in the child's residence that significantly impairs the other party's ability to exercise custodial rights. The word mile does not appear anywhere in Chapter 53.

Relocation notice and objection

Certified mail, return receipt requested, by the 60th day before the move, to every individual with custody rights. A 10 day fallback applies only where the parent neither knew nor could reasonably have known in time and cannot reasonably delay. The other party then has 30 days to object.

Relocation mechanism

A hybrid. Section 5337(b) permits no move without consent or court approval and 5337(i)(1) puts the burden on the mover, yet 5337(d)(3) presumes consent from silence. The objection runs on the prescribed counter-affidavit, which lets a party accept the move while still contesting the schedule.

Court and forms

The Court of Common Pleas that issued the order, filed with the county prothonotary. Pennsylvania prescribes the pleading by rule rather than by form number: Pa.R.Civ.P. 1915.15(b) provides the Petition for Modification shall be substantially in the form given, with the Rule 1915.15(c) order attached.

Filing fee

Not set statewide. The phrase filing fee appears nowhere in Pa.R.Civ.P. ch. 1915, and the base cost is set county by county and collected by the prothonotary, so ask your county. Separately, 42 Pa.C.S. 1725.1(a.1) adds a $5 statewide custody case cost on top of that base.

Procedural screen

No adequate cause or merits screen; Chapter 53 contains no such provision. What is mandatory is the Criminal Record/Abuse History Verification under Rule 1915.3-2, filed with the petition, served with a blank copy for the other party, confidential once filed, and carrying sanctions if omitted.

Child's wishes

A capacity test with no age. Section 5328(a)(7) weighs the child's well reasoned preference based on developmental stage, maturity and judgment. The relocation factor at 5337(h)(4) is worded differently, weighing preference in light of age and maturity. Neither sets a numeric threshold.

Suggested Compliance Checklist

Apply the impairment test to any planned move

Before you commit to a moving date days after starting

Write down your current schedule and the schedule the move leaves possible. Under 23 Pa.C.S. 5322(a) the question is whether the change significantly impairs the other party's ability to exercise custodial rights, not how far you are going. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.

Identify everyone who holds custody rights

At least 70 days before a planned move days after starting

Section 5337(c)(1) requires notice to every other individual with custody rights to the child, which can include a grandparent holding rights under 23 Pa.C.S. 5325, not only the other parent. Missing one of them undermines the whole notice package.

Serve the relocation notice package

By the 60th day before the move days after starting

Mail by certified mail, return receipt requested. Enclose the eleven information items in 23 Pa.C.S. 5337(c)(3), your proposed revised custody schedule, a blank counter-affidavit, and the written warning that failing to object within 30 days forecloses objection. Keep every return receipt.

Draft the Petition for Modification of a Custody Order

Once you know whether the other party objects days after starting

Follow Pa.R.Civ.P. 1915.15(b). Give the date of the order being changed, attach a true and correct copy, and state your grounds at paragraph 4. Sign the verification, which exposes false statements to penalties under 18 Pa.C.S. 4904. Attach the Rule 1915.15(c) order with MODIFY elected.

Complete and file the Criminal Record/Abuse History Verification

Contemporaneous with filing the petition days after starting

Rule 1915.3-2 requires this form for you and every member of your household, filed with the prothonotary when you file the petition. Serve a copy on the other party plus a blank one for them, and update yours within 14 days of any change in circumstances.

File with the prothonotary and confirm the county cost

Promptly, since the trial clock starts at filing days after starting

File in the Court of Common Pleas that issued your order. Pennsylvania sets no statewide base filing cost, so ask the prothonotary for the current county figure and expect the separate $5 custody case cost under 42 Pa.C.S. 1725.1(a.1) on top of it.

File the confirmation package if nobody objects

Before the relocation occurs days after starting

Section 5337(e) requires an affidavit that notice went to everyone entitled and the objection period has passed, the signed return receipt with the full notice sent, a petition to confirm relocation and modify the order, and a proposed order. Do not move before this is filed.

Track the 45 day and 180 day court deadlines

From the date you file days after starting

Rule 1915.4(a) sets your initial in person contact with the court within 45 days. Rule 1915.4(b) requires trial to be listed within 180 days or the matter may be dismissed. Diary both dates and keep following your existing order until a judge signs a new one.

Task	Description	Document	Days after starting
Apply the impairment test to any planned move	Write down your current schedule and the schedule the move leaves possible. Under 23 Pa.C.S. 5322(a) the question is whether the change significantly impairs the other party's ability to exercise custodial rights, not how far you are going. Attorney review of your filing is available through DocDraft.	-	Before you commit to a moving date
Identify everyone who holds custody rights	Section 5337(c)(1) requires notice to every other individual with custody rights to the child, which can include a grandparent holding rights under 23 Pa.C.S. 5325, not only the other parent. Missing one of them undermines the whole notice package.	-	At least 70 days before a planned move
Serve the relocation notice package	Mail by certified mail, return receipt requested. Enclose the eleven information items in 23 Pa.C.S. 5337(c)(3), your proposed revised custody schedule, a blank counter-affidavit, and the written warning that failing to object within 30 days forecloses objection. Keep every return receipt.	-	By the 60th day before the move
Draft the Petition for Modification of a Custody Order	Follow Pa.R.Civ.P. 1915.15(b). Give the date of the order being changed, attach a true and correct copy, and state your grounds at paragraph 4. Sign the verification, which exposes false statements to penalties under 18 Pa.C.S. 4904. Attach the Rule 1915.15(c) order with MODIFY elected.	-	Once you know whether the other party objects
Complete and file the Criminal Record/Abuse History Verification	Rule 1915.3-2 requires this form for you and every member of your household, filed with the prothonotary when you file the petition. Serve a copy on the other party plus a blank one for them, and update yours within 14 days of any change in circumstances.	-	Contemporaneous with filing the petition
File with the prothonotary and confirm the county cost	File in the Court of Common Pleas that issued your order. Pennsylvania sets no statewide base filing cost, so ask the prothonotary for the current county figure and expect the separate $5 custody case cost under 42 Pa.C.S. 1725.1(a.1) on top of it.	-	Promptly, since the trial clock starts at filing
File the confirmation package if nobody objects	Section 5337(e) requires an affidavit that notice went to everyone entitled and the objection period has passed, the signed return receipt with the full notice sent, a petition to confirm relocation and modify the order, and a proposed order. Do not move before this is filed.	-	Before the relocation occurs
Track the 45 day and 180 day court deadlines	Rule 1915.4(a) sets your initial in person contact with the court within 45 days. Rule 1915.4(b) requires trial to be listed within 180 days or the matter may be dismissed. Diary both dates and keep following your existing order until a judge signs a new one.	-	From the date you file

Frequently Asked Questions

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Expunging a Criminal Record in Pennsylvania (2026)

Filing a Workplace Harassment Complaint in Pennsylvania

Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Pennsylvania (2026)

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