Bonawitz v. Bonawitz

In Coxe v. Coxe, 246 Pa.Super. 231, 369 A.2d 1297 (1976), I concluded that in reviewing the record of a divorce case that turned on credibility we should act as follows:

If we do not take “de novo” too literally, and if we make an earnest effort to give the master’s findings on credibility “the fullest consideration,” I think that at *264least in most cases we shall not miss the mark by much. If in a given case, we conclude to reject the master’s findings, we should explain in detail the basis of our rejection. Thereby we shall avoid, at least as much as possible, the danger of making an arbitrary…