Parental Alienation Attorney in New York

Experienced New York Lawyers

Divorce can be a highly emotionally-charged time, especially when couples cannot come to amicable agreements on the terms of their separation. When children are involved, a contentious divorce can be even more difficult. When a divorce involves deep-rooted feelings of anger or resentment from one parent to another, parental alienation may result.

Parental alienation is any behavior by one parent that creates a distance between the child and their other parent. This can be done consciously or unconsciously, but the results can be equally damaging either way. Parental alienation ultimately forces a child to choose one parent over another, destroying the possibility of a healthy and loving relationship with both of their parents. Not only is this extremely upsetting to the parent whose child has turned against them, but studies have shown that children can also suffer severe psychological damage that can extend long into adulthood.

Signs of Parental Alienation

An alienating parent may attempt to distance their child from the target parent by convincing the child that their other parent is a bad or dangerous person. The target parent, while suffering the heartbreaking loss of a relationship with their child, may not be able to defend themselves against these accusations with facts.

Signs of parental alienation include:

• The alienating parent interferes with visitation time or phone calls
• The alienating parent gives the child a choice about visitation when the court order gives them no such choice
• The alienating parent openly blames the other parent for breaking up the family, financial problems, etc.
• The alienating parent asks the child to choose one parent over another
• The alienating parent uses the child to gather information about the other parent
• The children become angry with or refuse to speak to or see the target parent without being able to clearly explain why