McMillen v. McMillen
Pennsylvania Supreme Court
602 A.2d 845 (1992)

- Written by Denise McGimsey, JD
Facts
When Vaughn McMillen (plaintiff) and Carolyn Shemo (defendant), formerly McMillen, divorced in 1981, Shemo was awarded primary custody of the couple’s son, Emmett. McMillen was granted visitation rights. Over the next several years, McMillen succeeded in gaining additional visitation rights. Beginning in 1986, Emmett expressed a desire to live with his father rather than his mother. Emmett had a worse relationship with his mother and stepfather than with his father and stepmother who took a more active role in the boy’s life. He claimed that the stepfather harassed and frightened him. In 1988, the trial court awarded general custody of the boy to McMillen. The court found both parents’ homes to be equal and therefore awarded custody to McMillen on the basis of Emmett’s custodial preference. Upon Shemo’s appeal, the Superior Court vacated the order of the trial court and reinstated Shemo as the primary custodian. The Superior Court reasoned that the evidence did not justify a change of custody and that Emmett’s preference was not an indication of his best interests. McMillen appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Larsen, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 816,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.