Parental Alienation

Several jurisdictions recognize parental alienation by another parent as an actual and diagnosable issue. In these jurisdictions, it is weighed heavily because the court recognizes the susceptibility of children to the influences of a parent.

Parental alienation often includes situations in which:

• One parent tells a child negative stories about the other parent
• One parent lies to the child about the other parent
• One parent discourages contact with the other parent
• One parent forces the child into thinking of the other parent in a negative way

Parental alienation cases can be complex because it must be proven that one parent did in fact sway his or her child into feeling or thinking a certain way about the other parent. If this is the case, it can be heavily considered in custody cases. The parent who tried to sway the child may be considered unfit to raise the child.

While courts look at the relationship between the parties when making determinations about parenting time exchanges, as well as in regards to making determinations about decision-making authority, they are more interested in the quality of the relationship between the child and each parent.

This is why parental alienation is so effective, and so dangerous. With a child of any age, from 2 to 18, children are impressionable and very often, our Denver divorce attorneys at Modern Family Law hear stories about children intervening in telling one parent or another that they want less time.

Oftentimes, we see that it is the primary parent, the parent with the majority of time, who uses techniques of parental alienation on a regular basis to push the other parent further away. This is a danger because parents recognize it, child and family investigators recognize it, and courts recognize it.

The standard that the court uses for determination of parenting time is the best interests of the child. When one party is alienating the child from the other parent, courts will find that such behavior is not in the best interests of the minor child and this type of behavior should be avoided as much as possible.