How to modify child custody and parenting time in Pennsylvania

Sources last checked 3 November 2026. Information only, not legal advice.

Pennsylvania divorce kit Modifying child support and alimony in Pennsylvania After your divorce: changing a support or custody order

The short version

In Pennsylvania you ask the court to change a custody order by filing a petition for modification. The Supreme Court’s civil procedure rules set out the form: Pa.R.Civ.P. 1915.15(b), Petition for Modification of a Custody Order, with an order attached in the form of rule 1915.15(c). The rule says the petition shall be “substantially in the following form”. The rule’s source note lists its latest amendment as April 25, 2025, effective July 1, 2025, and that is the revision date we can give; the rule does not carry a separate form number or date. We did not read any county’s own forms or local rules.

What must be shown

The statute, 23 Pa.C.S. section 5338(a). It says that upon petition a court “may modify a custody order to serve the best interest” of the child. The text we read does not add a separate requirement of changed circumstances. Subsection (b) says the section applies to any custody order entered by a court of Pennsylvania or another state, subject to the jurisdictional requirements of Chapter 54 (the interstate custody jurisdiction chapter), with an exception for 51 Pa.C.S. Chapter 46 (deployed parents).
What the form asks you to say. Paragraph 3 describes the existing order and its date and attaches a copy. Paragraph 4 reads “This Order should be modified because” and leaves you to write the reasons. The closing request asks the court to modify the order “because it will be in the best interest of the child(ren)”.
The best-interest factors, section 5328(a). In ordering any form of custody, the court determines the best interest of the child by considering all relevant factors, “giving substantial weighted consideration” to the safety factors in paragraphs (1), (2), (2.1) and (2.2). The listed factors include which party is more likely to ensure the child’s safety; present and past abuse; violent or assaultive behavior; the level of cooperation and conflict between the parties; willingness and ability to prioritize the child’s needs; stability and continuity in the child’s education, family life and community life; sibling and other family relationships; the child’s well-reasoned preference; the proximity of the parties’ homes; each party’s work schedule and availability; drug or alcohol history; mental and physical condition; and any other relevant factor. Section 5328(a.2) says no single factor “shall by itself be determinative”. The text we read does not say in terms whether these factors apply to a modification petition, and we did not read case law.

What you file

The petition in the form of rule 1915.15(b). Paragraph 5 says the petitioner has attached the Criminal Record/Abuse History Verification form that Pa.R.Civ.P. 1915.3-2 requires. The petition is verified under the penalties of unsworn falsification to authorities (18 Pa.C.S. section 4904), and the rule’s 2008 explanatory comment says a notary is not needed.
An order to appear. Rule 1915.3(b) says an order directing the respondent to appear at a time and place is attached to the petition for modification, in the form of rule 1915.15(c). That form tells the respondent to appear for a conciliation or mediation conference, a pretrial conference or a hearing, and warns that if they do not, “an order for custody may be entered against you” or the court may issue a warrant for arrest.
The Criminal Record/Abuse History Verification form. Rule 1915.3-2(a) says the petitioner files it with the prothonotary at the same time as the petition, for the petitioner and any member of the petitioner’s household, and serves a copy with a blank form for the respondent. The respondent completes and files theirs at the initial in-person contact with the court or “within 30 days of service of the initiating pleading”, whichever is first. The rule says the filed form “shall not be publicly accessible”.

Notice, timing and hearing

Copy of the factors: section 5328(d) says that within 30 days of receiving a petition for modification of custody, the court provides all parties named in it with a copy of section 5328.
First contact with the court: rule 1915.4(a) says the parties’ initial in-person contact with the court, for example a conference with a conference officer, conciliation or mediation, is to be scheduled “not later than 45 days from the filing of a complaint or petition”. The rule says this depends on the procedure in the judicial district.
Trial listing: rule 1915.4(b) says that, depending on the district’s procedure, within 180 days of filing either the court automatically schedules a trial or a party files a praecipe, motion or request for trial. The rule provides for dismissal if neither happens, and for extensions. Read the rule for the details.
Trial and decision: rule 1915.4(c) says trials before a judge commence within 90 days of the scheduling order. Rule 1915.4(d) says the judge’s decision is entered within 15 days after trial concludes, unless extended by an order showing good cause.
Emergency relief: rule 1915.4(e) says nothing in the rule prevents a party from seeking, or a court from ordering, emergency or interim special relief at any time after the action begins.
If you want to move the child: the order form warns that a party may not change the child’s residence in a way that significantly impairs the other party’s custodial rights without first following 23 Pa.C.S. section 5337 and Pa.R.Civ.P. 1915.17. We did not read those provisions.

Before you file

Court staff cannot tell you what to argue. The order form says to take the paper to your lawyer at once and gives an office to contact about hiring a lawyer or finding legal services. See the Pennsylvania divorce kit for the wider process.
Changing child support or alimony uses different rules. See modifying child support and alimony in Pennsylvania.
This page states no filing fee. None of the sources we read gives one.

What we could not confirm

County forms and local rules. The rule requires the form only substantially, so counties may adapt it. We did not read any county’s own petition form, fee schedule or local rules, which can differ.
Filing fees. No source we read states an amount.
Service of the petition. The note to rule 1915.4 points to Rule 1930.4 for service of original process in custody matters. We did not read it.
The standard the courts apply. We read the statute and the rules only. We did not read case law, so we do not say whether or how courts treat a change in circumstances as part of the best-interest decision.
Relocation. We did not read 23 Pa.C.S. section 5337 or rule 1915.17.
The court’s own website. We read the rules as published in the Pennsylvania Code (pacodeandbulletin.gov), which says it reflects changes effective through 56 Pa.B. 6006 (September 5, 2026). That is the official Code publication of the Supreme Court’s rules, not the court’s own site. We did not read the forms pages on pacourts.us, so we cannot say whether a separate statewide form exists there.

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