What to Know About Parental Alienation in New York
When two people get divorced, emotions run high. Things can become even more complicated when there are children involved. Unfortunately, some parents will attempt to turn their child against their former spouse. This behavior is known as parental alienation. Parental alienation has been proven to cause a lot of harm to children and potentially leading to childhood trauma. Read on to learn more about parental alienation and what you can do about it.
What is Parental Alienation?
Parental alienation occurs when a spouse tries to actively destroy the relationship of the other parent with their child. In order to do this, the spouse may put ideas into the child’s head about negative feelings toward their parent. Since children are young and impressionable, they may start to believe this input from their parent. Children assume that what their parents tell them is true. As a result, children may start to change their behavior around the parent that the alienation is being targeted at. A child may become violent or aggressive when interacting with the targeted parent. In other cases, the child may become distant and/or upset when the other parent is around. Parental alienation can have a serious impact on your relationship with your child, and your child’s well-being. As a result, it is important to put an end to this behavior as soon as possible.
What Can be Done About Parental Alienation?
The topic of parental alienation can be highly controversial. It can be difficult to prove, making it difficult to use as a defense in court. However, judges may recognize this form of abuse if the marriage between two individuals was especially toxic. If the events leading up to the divorce proceedings or the proceedings themselves prove to show signs that parental alienation is a possibility, judges may catch on to the change in behavior. As a result, a judge may rule to modify your custody agreement. A New York court may rule to limit the other parent’s time with the child. By engaging in parental alienation, your ex may be violating the core of your child custody agreement, which is to do what is in the child’s best interest.
If you believe you and your child are victims of parental alienation, you will want to contact an experienced family law attorney as soon as possible.
Contact our experienced Nassau County firm
The Pollack Law Firm, P.C., rated Nassau County’s “BEST” divorce lawyers and proudly serving clients in Nassau and Suffolk County for more than 22 years, is always available to assist and represent parties in divorce, separation and all other matrimonial and family law matters. Contact us online or call today to schedule your complimentary case analysis: (516) 938-3330.
