Parental Alienation

With Parental Alienation, You Need to Act Quickly and Decisively

Some parents maliciously act to create a rift between their child and the other parent. For example, if your ex is angry and frustrated about your separation or divorce, they may be bad-mouthing you to your child by saying such things as, “Daddy doesn’t love us, or he wouldn’t have left.” Or, “Mommy isn’t coming to see you play soccer today because she doesn’t care about you.” As a result, your child may believe that you are a bad person or feel that your ex has been wronged and take their side. This is called parental alienation.

For everyone’s wellbeing, it’s always better for parents to work together in raising their children rather than for one parent to create a rift. Parental alienation is very damaging, and often requires the intervention of the court. If your ex is engaged in parental alienation tactics, the family law attorneys at Warren Major LLP can help. It’s important to act quickly and decisively before your child’s behaviors become deeply entrenched.

How can you tell if your ex is engaged in parental alienation?

Your child may drag their feet when it’s time to spend time with you. They may seem sullen, aloof and unhappy when they are with you. They may complain about your home, the food you serve them, and the types of activities you do together. In the worst case scenario, they may refuse to be with you at all.

Court ordered family therapy

If you believe that you are the recipient of parental alienation tactics from your ex, you can ask for court ordered therapy that may include: individual therapy for your child, family therapy for all of you together, and individual therapy for your ex. It’s always best to find a therapist who is familiar with the issue of parental rejection. A skilled therapist should be able to make your ex understand the harm they are doing, as well as help repair your child’s relationship with you.

Court ordered custody and visitation changes

Depending on the severity of the problem, and the age or your child, you can also ask the court to change your child custody and visitation orders to include any of the following:

• Updating your parenting plan to provide additional court ordered time for your child to be with you, the rejected parent.
• Assigning joint custody, if you don’t have it already, to ensure more involvement in child-related decision making.
• Making no change to legal custody but suspending contact between your child and the favored parent for a period of time.
• Reassigning legal custody to you and suspending contact with the favored parent for a period of time.

The highly regarded Warren Major LLP family law attorneys understand the heartbreak of parental alienation. We are ready to support you in healing the rift between you and your child.

Please contact us to discuss your situation.