Butler Cnty. C.P. L1920.55 Divorce Master

L1920.55-1

Unless the court orders otherwise, all divorce proceeding shall be referred to a master

in accordance with Pa.R.C.P. No. 1920.55-2 except that the stenographic record which is (still)

to be filed along with the master’s report shall not be transcribed, unless exceptions to the

Master’s Report and Recommendation are filed. In such event, the party filing the exceptions

shall simultaneously direct the court reporter to transcribe all those portions of the record

which the excepting party in good faith believes are required for the proper disposition of the

exceptions. Such direction shall be in writing, with a copy filed with the exceptions and served

on the opposing party. The non-excepting party shall within 10 days make designation to the

court reporter of any additional parts of the record which he/she in good faith believes are

necessary to the proper disposition of the issue, in writing, with copies to the Court and the

opposing party. Each party shall make timely arrangements for payment of the court reporter’s

transcription fees for those portions of the record designated for transcription by him/her,

subject to reallocation of transcription fees by the court.*

In appropriate circumstances, either party or the master may request that the court

order the case to proceed under Pa.R.C.P. No. 1920.55-3.1

Comment: The manifest purpose of the rule is to reduce the cost of master’s proceeding by

avoiding costly transcription fees when it is possible to do so. When cross-exceptions are filed,

each party will be deemed to be the excepting party with respect to his/her exceptions, for

purposes of this rule. The court will only consider the exhibits introduced at the master’s

hearing and the transcribed portions of the testimony in disposing of the exceptions.

Therefore, it is incumbent on the parties to correctly specify those portions of the record which

are pertinent to the disposition of the issues on exceptions. Parties contemplating an appeal to

Superior Court may want to have the entire record transcribed, particularly when the

exceptions involve general issues such as failure to properly assess or weigh the various

equitable distribution criteria. However, even in those cases, arguments not asserted in the trial

court are waived on appeal. Indeed, the Rules of Appellate Procedure only require the parties

to reproduce those parts of the record applicable to the issues on appeal. We therefore

conclude that the new procedure described in this rule, for partial transcription of the record,

within the control of the parties, will adequately provide for proper appellate review. The

possibility of reallocation of transcription fees, along with other available remedies, will enable

the court to enforce the requirement that “good faith” accompany the designation of which

portions of the record need to be transcribed for “the proper disposition of the issue.”

The intent of this portion of the rule is to permit, by court approval, Pa.R.C.P. No.

1920.55-3 proceeding in cases with limited assets, in forma pauperis litigants, or other

circumstances which merit consideration for streamlined proceedings without a record. In

addition, the language of the rule does permit the court to hear those rare, novel or inordinately

complex cases which the court should hear itself, in the interest of judicial economy.