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It is understandably difficult to maintain the same relationship and bond with your child when having to share custody of them after your divorce from your former spouse. But you may find yourself in an extreme scenario, where your child begins to reject you or rebel against you, seemingly out of nowhere. After some deep reflection of yourself and your situation as a whole, you may suspect parental alienation is at play. Please know that this is a cause for legal concern. That said, follow along to find out how to address parental alienation in a court setting and how one of the proficient Clarksville child custody lawyers at Fendley and Birch can help you develop a solid case for it.
In its simplest definition, parental alienation occurs when one parent turns a child against another parent, typically in the aftermath of a divorce. A child may “turn against” the alienated parent after their other parent talks poorly or makes false allegations about the alienated parent; makes them feel guilty for visiting or stay with the alienated parent from time to time; undermines the alienated parent’s authority or parenting styles while under their supervision; and more.
Within this context, parental alienation may be considered a form of domestic abuse. This is because the one parent may, sadly, use a child as the currency of such emotional abuse. In other words, they may weaponize a child against the alienated parent through their tactical behaviors and actions mentioned above.
All in all, a parent who is found guilty of parental alienation in the state of Tennessee may be held in contempt of court. In turn, this may lead to serious consequences such as hefty fines and considerable jail time.
Incidents of parental alienation may start violating the terms and conditions of your existing custody arrangement. More importantly, though, it may start affecting your child’s well-being. Overall, this may prompt you to pursue a post-judgment modification of your custody order with a Tennessee family court.
It may be difficult to prove parental alienation, but sufficient evidence is necessary for your court case. So, for starters, it may help to keep a personal log of parental alienation incidents that arise. The importance behind this is to establish a pattern. For example, if you record that your child typically acts defiant, upset with, or critical of you on the first day after being dropped off by their other parent.
Secondly, you may enroll your child in a therapy program or attend family therapy sessions together. Their therapist may not testify in court. However, if you later on appoint a child custody expert to your case, they may serve as a valuable resource to them when assessing the situation.
In the end, the child custody expert will hopefully recommend modifications to the custody arrangement that works in the child’s best interest and no longer alienates you. What’s more, they may suggest that the court order individual therapy, family therapy, reunification therapy, or a combination of therapies, if you and your child do not already participate in these programs.
We advise you to reach out to one of the talented Clarksville family lawyers sooner rather than later. We are confident that you will not regret retaining the services of our team at Fendley and Birch.