From Taylor v. Smith, decided last month by a Pennsylvania appellate panel (Judge Correale Stevens, joined by Judges John Bender and Anne Lazarus) but just noted yesterday in the Westlaw Bulletin:
Victor Taylor ("Father") appeals from the order dated and entered March 1, 2023, awarding shared legal and physical custody of K.J. ("Child"), a male child born in April of 2020, to him and Kareem Smith, the nonbiological father who stood in loco parentis to Child….
Child was born to S.J. ("Mother"). At the time, Mother was in a relationship with Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith thought he was Child's father and raised Child with Mother until Mother's death in May of 2021. Thereafter, on July 12, 2021, it was confirmed that Father is Child's biological father. {We glean from the record that Father sought court approval to perform a paternity test. Mr. Smith does not dispute Father's paternity.}
Father and Smith were given joined custody, and the court affirmed; it began by quoting an earlier decision setting forth the rights of biological parents and others who had helped raise a child:
