When the new Custody Act was passed in 2011, practitioners welcomed the statute authorizing the award of counsel fees, costs and expenses, as the statute provides that a court may award reasonable interim or final counsel fees, costs and expenses to a party if the court finds that the conduct of another party was obdurate, vexatious, repetitive or in bad faith. This new counsel fees statute, 23 Pa. C.S. Section 5339, was hoped to be the tool to defend against repeat filers in custody actions. Many believe that repeated custody litigation negatively impacts the best interest of the child. Section 5339 had not been analyzed by the appellate courts of Pennsylvania until the recent case of Chen v. Saidi, 2014 Pa. Super. 190 (September 2, 2014).
The Chen case pertains to a number of issues, including an appeal regarding an equitable distribution award. However, for purposes of this article, the portion of the appeal pertaining to the award of counsel fees pursuant to Section 5339 in the child custody matter will be addressed.
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