[J-118-1999]

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

WESTERN DISTRICT

 

 

RANDALL A. CHARLES,

 

                                    Appellee

 

 

                        v.

 

 

RICHARD STEHLIK,

 

                                    Appellant

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No. 11 W.D. Appeal Docket 1999

 

Appeal from the Order of Superior Court entered on March 13, 1998 at 501PGH97 affirming the Order entered on February 26, 1997 by the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Family Division at No. FD95-10556

 

 

ARGUED:  September 14, 1999

 

 

CONCURRING OPINION

 

 

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE FLAHERTY                       DECIDED:  JANUARY 19, 2000

 

            I concur in the affirmance of the award of custody to appellee, but write separately to express that I favor the approach to custody determinations set forth in my concurring opinion in Ellerbe v. Hooks, 490 Pa. 363, 371-74, 416 A.2d 512, 515-17 (1980), which was followed by a plurality of this court in Rowles v. Rowles, 542 Pa. 443, 668 A.2d 126 (1995).  That approach discards the presumption that a parent has a prima facie right to custody against third parties and substitutes a standard requiring that custody be determined by a preponderance  of the evidence, weighing parenthood as a strong factor for consideration.  Id. at 447, 668 A.2d at 128.