4 Ways A Child Custody Attorney Can Help With A Parental Alienation Case
by Joyce Diaz
After you and your significant other part ways, it can take some time for your kids to adjust. It's often normal for kids to be hurt, angry, or even downright rude to one - or both - parents after a divorce or breakup. However, these feelings generally fade over time. If they don't, you may be dealing with parental alienation. Parental alienation occurs when one parent attempts to turn the children against the other parent. This type of alienation can harm your connection with your children and potentially cause lasting damage.
To protect your relationship with your kids, getting legal help is important if you think parental alienation is happening. A child custody attorney or child support attorney experienced in child custody law can provide assistance. Here are four ways that a child custody law firm can help you fight your parental alienation case.
1) Request a guardian ad litem
A guardian ad litem or a legal representative in a similar role can represent the interests of your children in court and help ensure they receive a fair hearing. Tread carefully here, though, as alienated children may not be willing to speak openly with a court-appointed official. Your child custody attorney can help you determine whether your case may benefit from the help of a guardian ad litem.
2) Request supervised visitation
Supervised visitation can be requested if there is proof or even just suspicion that parental alienation is occurring, even if you feel like your time shouldn't be monitored with the kids. These visits give you an opportunity to repair your relationship with your kids in a neutral, safe environment. A child custody attorney can help you request supervised visitation and decide who should supervise your custodial time.
3) Utilize mediation
Mediation can be an effective way to work out issues between feuding parties and may help facilitate conversations that have been difficult or impossible to have outside of the courtroom. A mediator has no stake in the outcome of your case and should remain impartial throughout the process. Your child custody attorney can help you gather evidence that can be used in mediation sessions to help resolve your case.
4) Make modifications to custody arrangements
In cases of parental alienation, changes may need to be made to existing custodial arrangements. This can happen if the alienation is severe to the point where a judge feels a modification is necessary. The modification may help you reconnect with your children and restore their trust in you. A child custody lawyer can help you present evidence that shows the alienation has impacted your relationship with them and argue why a change is necessary.
Don't fight parental alienation alone. Reach out to a child custody attorney near you for help protecting your relationship with your children.
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About Me
Hello. My name is Stephanie Laurel. I have recently been through a divorce, and although I don’t wish it on anyone, I do wish that everyone could come out of the proceedings feeling they have been taken care of. My husband and I had been married twenty-eight years. We have four children, two of which are still under eighteen years of age. We owned the home we lived in and had a vacation home in a different state. We are civilized people, we get along fairly well considering, but no matter how much we thought we could go through the divorce process without lawyers, it wasn't possible. We each hired a divorce attorney to represent us. Most of the negotiations went well, but when we hit a rough spot the attorneys took over. Thank goodness. I’m going to share more about the experience and hope it helps you.