What is parental alienation? During the course of a divorce, one parent may attempt to alienate his or her child from the other parent in order to earn a favorable ruling in their case.
What are some signs of parental alienation?
There are many ways in which one parent will attempt to alienate a child from the other parent. Some common methods include the following:
- Making inappropriate or negative comments about the other parent – If one parent insults or speaks negatively about the other parent to his or her child without good reason, he or she is attempting to alienate the child from the other parent.
- Influencing the child’s opinion on the divorce – One parent may attempt to have the child take sides during the divorce. This is done by unfairly making up or distorting facts so that the other parent receives a disproportionate amount of blame for familial problems.
- Undermining the authority of the other parent – Parental alienation may also occur if one parent consistently contradicts the authority of the other parent, even if the other parent is making a reasonable decision. For example, parent A tells his or her child to do homework while at parent B’s home. Parent B allows the child to play video games in order to create favoritism, even though it would be in the child’s best interest to do his or her homework.
- Attempting to replace one parent with another parental figure – One parent may bring in another person as a substitute for the child’s biological parent and attempt to make the child more attached to the substitute.
- Making false accusations of abuse or domestic violence – If one parent successfully convinces a court to create a protective order against the other parent on the grounds of abuse or domestic violence, he or she can further alienate the child from the wrongly accused parent. The victimized parent will be unable to carry out his or her visitation privileges for a potentially extensive period of time and as a result, may become further alienated from the child.
How Can I Fight Against Parental Alienation During My Divorce?
If a parent’s attempts at parental alienation are successful, the child may grow up with a damaged relationship with the other parent. The parent whom carries out the alienation of the other parent may also receive full custody of the child along with all the rights and privileges conferred onto parents that have full custody in a divorce. This could include receiving child support and making decisions regarding the child’s upbringing. An experienced family law attorney may be able to help you identify and combat the strategies of parental alienation.
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