What is parental alienation?
Parental alienation is a phrase that you may have come across. It is where one parent creates an unwarranted fear or hostility in the child towards the other parent, causing them to reject or resist wanting to spend time with them.
The parent may talk about the other parent in derogatory terms, either to, or in front of the child or behave in a way which will then affect the behaviour of the child in relation to their other parent.
Some alienation also includes making false allegations against the other parent; often of abuse.
What the court can do about parental alienation...
A court will usually try various options in an attempt to stop the alienation. CAFCASS, who are the family court advisors in matters involving children, will usually be asked to prepare a report and guardians can also be appointed to act as the voice of the child.
They can assist in carrying out assessments and work with the parents and the children and provide them with support. A psychological report may be ordered to assess whether or not parental alienation is likely to be taking place. The report may make recommendations for work to be carried out with the child and sometimes the parents too.
Serious emotional harm...
Parental alienation can cause serious emotional harm to a child. A recent case has shown that the court can also take a much more robust view when dealing with parental alienation.
The case of MFS (Appeal: Transfer of Primary Care) involving a boy who was born in 2010, was an appeal by the mother against the decision to change the primary carer of the child to the father.
He was aged two when the court proceedings began and aged 8 by the time of the order. The mother said that the father was mentally unwell, violent and had a very negative attitude about him. A psychological report was ordered which found that the father had no such mental health issues. In fact the mother was alienating the father due to a fear of losing her son. Fear that if contact was allowed her son may prefer spending time with his father than her. It concluded that as a result, there was serious emotional harm to the child.
The appeal court agreed with the original judge’s decision; that the mother’s alienation of her son against the father by exposing him to her beliefs was harmful to him.
It is often the case that courts will threaten to change who the child will live with if the parent does not stop trying to prevent contact from taking place. However in this case, the judge felt that a threat would not change the mother’s behaviour and therefore agreed with the order for the child to go and live with his father.
A serious matter...
This case shows just how seriously the courts take parental alienation. If an issue is raised, it will be thoroughly investigated.
The courts have to fully consider historical evidence of cases and consider all possibilities before deciding if a parent is showing parental alienation against the other parent. Sadly, it can sometimes be the case that the allegations being made are in fact true.
If you have any concerns about parental alienation, one of our family lawyers will be happy to discuss this with you. You can contact us either via telephone on 0800 011 6666 or email Timms at legal@timms-law.com.
