Lehigh County Family Court Procedure: Custody, Divorce, and Support

Scope: Lehigh County, Pennsylvania—local family-court procedure. Statewide law lives on the linked custody, divorce, child-support, and spousal-support and alimony pages. Countywide filing and courthouse mechanics live on the parent Lehigh County courts guide. Current rules, notices, and case-specific orders control. The official sources below were checked on August 13, 2026.

How Lehigh County family cases move

Lehigh County’s Family Court Division handles custody, divorce, and PFA matters; the Domestic Relations Section handles child and spousal support. Three local procedures matter at the beginning. Ordinary custody complaints and petitions for modification or contempt generally start with a non-record conference, while COPE carries its own compliance requirement. Contested divorce economic claims reach the court-employed hearing officer, often called the Divorce Master, only after the county’s inventory-and-motion process. Support begins with a Domestic Relations conference where written financial proof should be complete before the conference ends. This guide covers those local routes without replacing the statewide legal standards on the practice pages.

Who this is for—and what it does not cover

This guide is for parents, spouses, and family members with a custody, divorce, or support matter in Lehigh County. It covers local routing and preparation, not the merits of a particular case, the custody factors, equitable distribution, or guideline calculations. Adoption is outside this page’s scope. A person filing or defending a PFA should use the Pennsylvania PFA page and the county intake section in the Lehigh courts guide. If the family lives in Bethlehem, first confirm whether the case belongs in Lehigh or Northampton County.

Custody: the conference-first process

Lehigh County procedure. Under the local rules, custody complaints and ordinary petitions for modification or contempt generally begin with an office or conciliation conference before a custody hearing officer. Relocation matters are initially directed to a conference under the local relocation rule. Emergency and special-relief proceedings may follow a different route. The conference is non-record and focuses on identifying the disputed issues and exploring possible agreement.

The county’s custody page says a conference date is assigned after the filing is submitted. If the parties reach agreement, the hearing officer can prepare a proposed order for court approval. If they do not, partial-physical-custody claims proceed to a record hearing before a hearing officer; legal-custody and primary- or shared-physical-custody claims proceed to trial before a judge; unresolved contempt claims proceed before a judge. Children should not attend a custody conference unless the court directs it or permission is obtained through the county’s written-request process.

E-filing and service remain separate tasks

The court states that electronic filing has been mandatory in custody and divorce cases since January 1, 2020, including for self-represented parties, except when the court specifically grants an exemption. PFA petitions do not use ordinary File & Serve. Filing does not eliminate the service rules: original process must be served under Pa. R.C.P. 1930.4, later papers under the rule that applies, and proof must be filed when required. Appearance at a conference or hearing may itself constitute service under Rule 1930.4(i). Use the current scheduling order and filing instructions rather than assuming one service method fits every paper.

COPE: the 60-day rule is complaint-specific

The court states that all parties to a custody action must attend its cooperative-parenting program, COPE. For an initial custody complaint, Local Rule 1915.3(g) directs the plaintiff to register and attend within 60 days after filing and the defendant within 60 days after service. In an existing case or after another type of filing, follow the specific scheduling order rather than assuming the same clock applies. Failure to comply with an order to attend may result in contempt and sanctions. Class dates, registration instructions, and charges are operational details that should be confirmed on the court’s current page.

The Statement of Facts and the current custody factors

Lehigh County’s current Statement of Facts form is organized around subjects addressed by the current 23 Pa.C.S. § 5328 framework, but it is not a substitute for the statute. The form directs parties to bring the original and two copies to the pretrial conference or, if no pretrial conference is held, to trial. Section 5328(d) separately requires the court, within 30 days after receiving a custody complaint, modification petition, or intervention petition, to provide each named party with a copy of § 5328. Review both the current form and the current statute when organizing evidence.

Preparation for conference. Bring a workable proposed schedule, school and activity calendars, work schedules, and concrete alternatives. That preparation helps counsel evaluate possible agreement and, if the case remains contested, identify the issues and evidence needed for the next proceeding. The custody practice page explains the substantive best-interest framework.

Divorce economics: the hearing-officer or Master track

Lehigh County procedure. Lehigh uses a court-employed Divorce Hearing Officer, commonly called the Divorce Master, for contested divorce and annulment matters after appointment, including equitable-distribution and post-divorce-alimony claims. The hearing officer does not provide legal advice or assist a party in filing for divorce; the court directs uncontested filers to its self-help materials.

Appointment requires an Inventory, a wait, and a motion

Getting economic claims before the hearing officer requires more than filing the divorce complaint. The court’s current instructions direct a party to complete and e-file an Inventory, wait 30 days, and then complete and e-file a Motion for Appointment of Hearing Officer. The county’s overview also identifies an appointment filing fee. Divorce staff then files the appointment order and schedules an initial telephone conference. Check the current forms and fee schedule when filing.

From the first conference to a report

1. Initial telephone conference. The case is organized and the needed financial exchange is identified.
2. Settlement conference. The county describes a half-day settlement conference approximately two months later, after information has been exchanged. That interval is an estimate, not a guaranteed timetable.
3. Formal hearing, when required. If the economic claims remain unresolved after the settlement process and grounds for divorce or annulment have been established, the hearing officer may conduct a formal hearing. The parties bear the stenographic costs identified by the court.
4. Report, exceptions, and court action. The hearing officer issues a report and recommendation after the hearing and transcript. Under Pa. R.C.P. 1920.55-2(b), exceptions generally must be filed within 20 days after receipt or mailing of the report, whichever occurs first. If no exceptions are filed, the court still reviews the report and enters a final decree only if it approves the recommendation.

The half-day settlement conference is a focused opportunity to resolve economic claims before a formal hearing. Preparation should include a complete financial record and clear settlement positions. The report’s notice, current rule, and docket control the exception deadline; review them immediately. For the statewide legal framework, see the divorce page and the separate spousal support, APL, and alimony page.

Support: prepare the conference record before it begins

Lehigh County Domestic Relations procedure and statewide rules. Beginning the online support application does not itself file the complaint. The county identifies the complaint-filing date as the effective-date starting point. More precisely, Pa. R.C.P. 1910.17(a) generally makes a support order effective from the filing date of the complaint or modification petition unless the order specifies otherwise; the rule includes additional provisions for changes in custody and some modification cases.

The document cutoff applies to the conference

The county warns that a conference officer may disregard an argument or contested expense that lacks written support and that documentation may not be submitted after the support conference ends. That rule concerns what the conference officer can consider for the conference determination. If the parties do not agree, an interim guideline order is entered and the matter proceeds to a record hearing before an attorney hearing officer; separate procedures under Pa. R.C.P. 1910.12 govern that later hearing. Bring the requested records to the conference and follow any later hearing instructions separately.

How the conference branches

The conference officer applies the support guidelines and reviews the parties’ financial information. If the parties agree, a support order is entered. If there is no agreement, an interim guideline order is entered and the case is scheduled for a record hearing before an attorney hearing officer. Missing documentation can affect both the conference calculation and the interim order that operates while the case proceeds.

County conference checklist

• Six months of pay statements and the most recent tax return and/or W-2, as the notice requires.
• Verification of additional income and assets, plus the completed income-and-expense report.
• Childcare-expense records.
• Proof of medical coverage, insurance cards, and health-insurance premium costs.
• Medical documentation supporting a claimed disability or inability to earn.
• Other records that bear on the support calculation or a contested expense.

The county’s list is operational guidance, not an exhaustive statement of proof for every case. Confirm the current conference notice and instructions. The child-support page covers the statewide guideline framework, while the spousal-support and APL page explains those separate claims.

When PFA, custody, and support matters overlap

PFA cases follow a separate intake route and may contain temporary custody or support terms. The PFA practice page explains the statewide remedy. The cross-practice PFA guide maps how protection orders, custody cases, criminal proceedings, and firearm consequences can affect one another. If more than one family matter is pending, bring every order and hearing notice; an order in one case can affect the procedure and strategy in another.

What to bring to a consultation

• Every current complaint, petition, scheduling order, conference notice, and prior order.
• For custody, a realistic proposed schedule, school and activity calendars, work schedules, and COPE registration or completion information.
• For divorce, a preliminary inventory of assets, debts, retirement accounts, dates of acquisition, and any financial exchange already made.
• For support, the conference notice and as much of the county document checklist as possible.
• Every PFA order or notice if protection proceedings overlap with the family case.

Current local form links are collected on the Lehigh County court-forms page. The parent Lehigh County courts guide covers e-filing, original service, civil motions, arbitration, and PFA intake.

This page describes selected Lehigh County procedures as published in local rules and official court materials checked on the date shown. Procedures, hours, forms, schedules, and fees can change; statutes, statewide and local rules, current notices, and case-specific orders control. Nothing here promises a schedule, ruling, support amount, or case result. This is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.