Butler Cnty. C.P. L1915.3 Commencement of Action Complaint Order Service

L1915.3 Commencement of Action. Complaint. Order. Service.

(a) All Custody Complaints and Petitions for Modification shall be filed with the Prothonotary.

In addition to the scheduling Order required by Pa.R.C.P. No. 1915.3, there shall be attached

by the Conciliator’s office, an additional Order with the following text:

“All adult parties to this action, who have not yet attended the seminar for divided

families endorsed by the Butler County Family Court, shall within 5 days of receipt of

this Order register to attend the next available seminar. Contact 724 XXX-XXXX to

register. Attendance at this seminar is mandatory, unless, within 5 days of receipt of

the Order, a party seeks permission to attend a comparable program in another

county, and within 10 days, permission is granted by the custody conciliator.”

(b) In addition to the filing fees assessed by the Prothonotary, an administrative fee for

conciliation services shall be assessed by administrative order of court, and shall be submitted

to the Prothonotary at the time of the filing of the custody complaint unless otherwise directed

by the court.

(c) Within 5 days of service of any claim for custody, partial custody, or visitation, any party

to an action who has not previously attended the education seminar for divided families shall

register to attend said seminar. Information concerning the seminar shall be provided by the

prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas of Butler County, Pennsylvania, to the filing party.

Said party shall be responsible for service of such information on the opposing party.

(1) Failure of either party to register for the seminar, prior to the conference, may

subject the noncompliant party to such sanctions as may be appropriate, including an award of

counsel fees.

(2) Unless otherwise requested by both parties, the parties will be scheduled for

separate education seminar sessions.

(d) Fees and policies pertaining to custody conciliation shall be adopted from time to time

by administrative orders of court. A copy of said policies and fee schedule will be available at

the Domestic Relations office/custody conciliator’s office.

(e) The Complaint for Custody and scheduling Order or the Petition for Modification and

scheduling Order, in addition to the Order to attend the divided families seminar, shall be

served by the moving party in accordance with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure.