Child custody disputes are often hotly contested, with parents having very different views on what sort of arrangement is in their child’s best interests. When the parties can’t agree on custody and visitation, the issue must be decided by a judge who hears the facts and renders a determination based on the child’s best interests.
While this process is meant to involve fair consideration of the facts, sometimes the issue is skewed when one parent presents lies or when they manipulate the situation to try to make the other look worse than they are.
This can be the case when your child’s other parent claims that you’ve engaged in parental alienation.
Parental alienation is the process of manipulating a child to distance them from the other parent. It can include feeding a child false information, disparaging the other parent in the child’s presence and even blocking the other parent from accessing the child. Parental alienation can be extremely harmful to children, which is why family law courts are now taking the matter quite seriously. But what happens when a parent makes false allegations of alienation? If you don’t properly address the issue, then the court could rule against you based on false information.
Fortunately, you don’t have to sit back and let the other parent paint you as someone who intentionally manipulates their child for personal gain. Here are some steps that you can take to try to protect yourself from allegations of having engaged in parental alienation:
- Contradict the parent’s evidence: To try to prove alienation, the other parent will present evidence that they claim shows that you’ve manipulated your child or acted too aggressively as a parental gatekeeper. But the facts may be far different than they appear when presented by the other parent. So, look for evidence that contradicts their accounts. This could include text messages, emails, your own testimony and statements from others who have observed your interactions with your child and the other parent.
- Consider a custody evaluation: Sometimes it’s hard for the court to decipher which parent is telling the truth. In these situations, the court may order, or a parent may request, a child custody evaluation. Here, a third-party, usually a mental health professional, observes parenting time, reviews relevant records and speaks to interested parties to get a feel for the family’s dynamics. Then, the evaluator submits a written report to the court with a recommendation for custody and parenting time. This report is usually given a lot of weight since it comes from an unbiased third-party.
- Address reliability: On their face, the other parent’s allegations might sound horrible. But once you factor in issues that are relevant to the other parent’s credibility, those allegations might significantly weaken. So, look for ways to attack the other parent’s credibility and the reliability of their statements. This could include pointing out prior inconsistent statements or highlighting their motivation and bias against you.
Don’t let false allegations lead to a bad outcome for you and your child
Your child’s overall well-being, as well as the amount and quality of time they get to spend with you, are on the line in your child custody case. That’s why it’s imperative that you do everything in your power to dispel lies and present the truth in a way that protects your child’s best interests.