Custody in Berks County: How It Works and Where to Get Help
The Berks County custody process in order: who may file, what gets filed for $225, the Children in the Middle class, the conciliation conference and the 20 days to object, what the law tells the judge to weigh, changing or enforcing an order, and where a custody lawyer or free help is.
In Berks County a custody case starts with a $225 complaint filed at the Prothonotary, plus a Scheduling Order that sends both parents to a three-hour class. Then comes conciliation, a settlement conference with a court-appointed lawyer called the custody conciliator, and the state's rules put that first in-person contact with the court within 45 days of filing. If you agree there, the agreement becomes the court's order; if you don't, the conciliator recommends an order and either parent has 20 days to object. A custody lawyer in Berks County can carry you through every step, and MidPenn Legal Services takes custody cases for people under its income line.
The law calls everyone in the case a party; this post says parents, but a grandparent or anyone else with standing follows the same steps. Everything here is general information; a question about your own children goes to a lawyer, the Bar's referral service at 610-375-4591, or MidPenn. Start with whether you need a lawyer at all if that's still the question, and the county lawyers page lists the firms in the county.
Who can file for custody in Berks County, and what the words mean.
Pennsylvania's custody law lets "a parent of the child" file, married or not, and so can someone who stands in loco parentis to the child, meaning someone who has acted as the child's parent. A grandparent who has acted as the child's parent files that way too; one who hasn't can file under conditions in the FAQ. Legal custody is the right to make the big decisions, medical, school, religion; physical custody is who the child is with. Primary physical custody is the majority of the time, partial is less than a majority, shared is each parent having significant periods, sole is one person, and supervised is time watched by an agency or an adult the court names or the parents agree on.
What you file at the courthouse and what it costs.
You file a verified complaint, one you sign as true under penalty of law, and with it the Berks Custody Scheduling Order, unless you file "a stipulated custody agreement signed by all parties" instead. The Scheduling Order is a county form you fill in and file with the complaint; once a judge signs it, it's the order that sends both parents to the class and sets the conciliation date, and the served parent receives it with the complaint. You also file a confidential verification form listing criminal and abuse history for you and "any member of that party's household". The fee is $225 as of 2026 for a custody complaint, a modification or a paternity complaint, paid at the Prothonotary.
Then the other side is served, each parent or other party named in the complaint, by a sheriff or any competent adult "but not by you or a person related to you", within 30 days, and the court won't act until proof of service is filed. If you're the one served, you complete your own verification form and serve it on the other parent no less than one day before your first in-person contact with the court (in Berks, the conciliation conference) or within 30 days of being served, whichever comes first, and file it at that contact or within the 30 days. A custody claim inside a divorce complaint, a custody count, gets its own case number and needs a stipulated agreement or a scheduling order "or the custody count may be dismissed".
The Children in the Middle class is the first thing on your Scheduling Order.
The order says all parties attend and complete the Children in the Middle program at the Family Guidance Center, 1105 Berkshire Blvd., Wyomissing, 610-374-4963, and that you call "within three (3) days of receiving this Scheduling Order to schedule". Each parent attends separately and pays the fee at registration, so ask the amount when you call.
What happens at the custody conciliation conference, and after it.
At conciliation the custody conciliator hears both of you and tries for a written agreement; the county's order uses the name hearing officer for the same person. If you were served, your path is the same: the order, the class, the verification form, then the conference, and whether to file a petition of your own is a question for a lawyer. If there's no agreement, the conciliator files a recommended order, and either parent has 20 days to file exceptions, a written objection to the recommended order; if nobody files them, the recommendation becomes the order. If exceptions are filed, the judge holds a pre-trial conference and "may try to settle the case"; if it doesn't settle, the case goes to trial de novo, a fresh trial. A temporary order (emergency or interim relief) can be asked for at any time after the complaint is filed. Here's the path.
This is the Berks custody path as the county's Scheduling Order, its local rules and the state's rules set it, as of October 2026. The conciliation date is printed on your own order.
| When | What happens | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| The day you file | Complaint, Scheduling Order, cover sheet and verification form; $225 | The Prothonotary, 2nd floor, 633 Court Street |
| Within 3 days of receiving the order | Call the Family Guidance Center to book the Children in the Middle class | The Scheduling Order |
| Within 30 days of filing | The court sends both parents the list of things the law tells the judge to weigh (the custody factors) | State law |
| No less than a day before the first court contact, or within 30 days of being served | The other parent serves their own verification form, and files it at that contact or within the 30 days | State court rules |
| Within 45 days of filing | The first in-person contact with the court; in Berks, the conciliation conference | State court rules |
| At the conference | A signed agreement becomes the order, or the conciliator recommends one | Berks local rules |
| 20 days after the recommended order | Last day to file exceptions; with none, it becomes the final order | Berks local rules |
| If exceptions are filed | A pre-trial conference with the judge, then a fresh trial | Berks local rules |
| Within 180 days of filing | The case is listed for trial, or it can be dismissed | State court rules |
| Within 15 days after the trial ends | The judge's decision | State court rules |
The 180-day row is the state's deadline for a case to be listed for trial, and a case nobody moves forward can be dismissed.
What the law tells the judge to weigh.
The custody factors are the list of things the law tells the judge to weigh, with the child's safety first. The list changed in 2024 and 2025. It includes which party is more likely to keep the child safe; past and present abuse by a party or household member; the ability to meet the child's daily needs; and "The well-reasoned preference of the child". The list is longer than that. The law also says "no party shall receive preference based upon gender".
Changing an order, moving away, and making the order stick.
Changing an order is a Petition to Modify, $225, filed at the Prothonotary with a Scheduling Order, so the class and the conciliation conference run again. A move that "significantly impairs the ability of a nonrelocating party to exercise custodial rights" (the parent who isn't moving) can't happen unless every person with custody rights consents or the court approves. The parent who wants to move sends the other, by certified mail at least 60 days before the move, a notice with the new address, school and reasons, a proposed schedule and a form to object; a parent who doesn't file an objection with the court within 30 days of receiving the notice is foreclosed from objecting. Custody orders "are civil court orders and are not enforceable by police"; the way to enforce one is a contempt petition ($170).
Where to find a custody lawyer in Berks County, and where free help is.
A new client gets the basis of the fee in writing, and neither firm below prints a custody fee; how lawyers charge in Berks County explains the ways lawyers charge. Nevins & McAllister offers a free custody consultation.
602-604 Court St, Reading, PA
Bentley, Kopecki, Smith in Reading offers a free half-hour consultation.
1118 Penn Ave, Reading, PA
If you can't afford a lawyer, MidPenn takes custody cases free for people under an income line that rises with household size, $19,950 a year for one person, $27,050 for two and $41,250 for four; call 1-800-326-9177 or apply at apply.midpenn.org. free and low-cost legal help in Berks County lists the other free and reduced-fee programs. Child support is a separate case at Domestic Relations, 610-478-2900; a protection from abuse petition costs nothing, with free help from Safe Berks, 610-373-1206 ext. 107.
If you filed, call the Family Guidance Center within three days of getting your signed order; if you were served, mark the three-day call and the conference date; if you already have an order and need it changed, it's the Petition to Modify above; then book a consultation with a firm from the county lawyers page or apply to MidPenn.
Frequently asked questions about custody in Berks County.
Can a grandparent file for custody in Berks County?
Yes. A grandparent who has acted as the child's parent files as someone in loco parentis, the same as a parent. One who hasn't can file when the relationship began with a parent's consent or a court order, the grandparent is willing to take responsibility, and one of three things is true: the child has been found by a juvenile court to be a dependent child; the child "is substantially at risk due to parental abuse, neglect, drug or alcohol abuse or incapacity"; or the child lived with the grandparent "for a period of at least 12 consecutive months" and the parents then removed the child (the filing must come within six months of the removal).
What happens if the other parent doesn't show up at conciliation?
A parent who was served and doesn't appear, without proper cause, is presumed to have agreed to the conference going ahead without them, and the conciliator recommends an order.
Can the police enforce my custody order?
No. Custody orders are civil orders, so enforcement is a contempt petition at the Prothonotary, $170.
Sources
- 23 Pa.C.S. § 5324, "Standing for any form of physical custody or legal custody": who may file, including the grandparent and third-party conditions; § 5325: grandparents' and great-grandparents' partial and supervised custody.
- 23 Pa.C.S. § 5322, "Definitions": legal and physical custody, the kinds of each, supervised custody and relocation; § 5323: the kinds of award, the reasons on the record, and contempt penalties.
- 23 Pa.C.S. § 5328, "Factors to consider when awarding custody" (as amended 2024 and 2025): the best-interest standard, the weighted safety factors, every factor named, no single factor decides, no preference by gender, and the 30-day copy to the parties; § 5329: criminal convictions the court must consider.
- 23 Pa.C.S. § 5338, "Modification of existing order": the best-interest standard for changing an order; § 5337: relocation, the 60-day notice and the 30-day objection; § 5339: counsel fees for bad-faith conduct.
- Pa.R.C.P. 1915.3, "Commencement of Action": the complaint, the paternity claim and the standing paragraph; Rule 1915.3-2: the Criminal Record/Abuse History Verification, its deadlines, updates and sanctions; Rule 1915.4: the 45, 180, 90 and 15 day clocks and emergency relief; Rule 1915.4-3: the trial is de novo.
- Pa.R.C.P. 1930.4, "Service of Original Process in Domestic Relations Matters": who may serve, service by mail, acceptance of service, the 30 days and the proof of service.
- Berks County Rules of Civil Procedure (as of March 14, 2020): filing with the Scheduling Order or a stipulated agreement (1915.3), a custody count inside a divorce (1915.3 and 1920.31), the consent order (1915.7), the conciliator and the conference (1915.26), no-shows (1915.27), exceptions, the pre-trial conference and the trial (1915.28 to 1915.30), the appendix on every order (1915.32), and the parenting coordination reduced rate (1915.11-1).
- County of Berks, Family Court, Custody Scheduling Order (order pages rev. 11.20.23, packet served October 2026): the Children in the Middle requirement, the three days, the fee paid to the Family Guidance Center, the conciliation office, the verification notice, the relocation notice and the Notice of Custody Factors.
- County of Berks, Family Court, "Custody": the conference, the recommended order, the 20 days, the pre-trial conference and trial, and the county's encouragement to consult a lawyer; "Custody and Divorce Self-Help": the forms, service, the cover sheet, the fee waiver forms, the limits on court staff, and the Prothonotary's address and hours; "What the Court and County Staff Can and Cannot do": the can and cannot list.
- County of Berks, "Complaint for Custody" (updated July 1, 2025): the kinds of custody checked on the form and the standing paragraph; "Petition to Modify Custody": the modification form; Appendix A: custody orders are civil orders not enforceable by police.
- Prothonotary of Berks County, "Fee Bill effective 9/28/2026": the $225 complaint or modification, the $170 contempt petition and the $30.50 custody count inside a divorce.
- Family Guidance Center, "Children in the Middle": the one-time three-hour class and who may attend; its contact page: the address and the phone menu option; County of Berks, "Agencies and Their Services" (May 29, 2026): the Center's address and services.
- County of Berks, "Parenting Coordinators" (April 1, 2025): the two coordinators and the $250 an hour; Family Court, "Resource Links & Referral Lists": Domestic Relations' phone and the agency lists.
- MidPenn Legal Services, "Do I Qualify?": the 125 percent guideline and the 2026 income table; "Services": the custody line, the LIVE project, and the intake phone and online application.
- Berks County Bar Association, "Find a Lawyer": the referral panel and the Modest Means Program's custody and support lines; "Guide to Legal Services" (PDF): the $50 referral fee and $10 for people 65 and older.
- Pennsylvania Free Legal Answers: custody among its question topics and the limits of the service; Safe Berks, "Legal Services": free help with protection orders.
- Nevins & McAllister, "Child Custody Lawyers in Reading, PA" (read October 13, 2026): the free consultation; Bentley, Kopecki, Smith, child custody: the free half-hour consultation; Sher & Associates, family law: the no-obligation consultation.
- County of Berks, "Law Library": the hours, the Westlaw terminal, and that the library is not staffed; Family Court, "Protection From Abuse": the office, floor and filing hours; 23 Pa.C.S. § 6106: no fee for the person who files.
- Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.5(b): the basis or rate of the fee in writing for a new client.