Rule 1915.7. Consent Order

If the parties have an agreement regarding custody and request that the court enter a consent order incorporating the agreement’s terms:

(a) the parties shall submit to the court a proposed custody order bearing the parties’ written consent; or

(b) the parties may state the agreement on the record, provided that:

(1) within ten days of placing the agreement on the record, the parties comply with subdivision (a); or

(2) the court memorializes the oral agreement from the record into a written custody order. Official Note See Pa.R.C.P. No. 1930.1(b). This rule may require attorneys or unrepresented parties to file confidential documents and documents containing confidential information that are subject to the Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania . See Pa.R.C.P. No. 1915.10(b) regarding written custody order requirements.

Explanatory Comment— 2019 The rule has been amended to ensure that when a custody agreement is orally placed on the record that a written custody order prepared by the parties memorializing the parties’ agreement is timely submitted to the court or the court memorializes the oral agreement into a written custody order. The amendment avoids the untenable circumstance that the only written record of the parties’ oral agreement is a transcription of what had been placed on the record. Transcription agreements are often cumbersome and difficult to discern as to the custody terms and provisions, which makes enforcement difficult. This amendment is consistent with the holding in R.L.P. v. R.F.M. , 110 A.3d 201 (Pa. Super. 2015).