When parents go through a divorce, one of the biggest fears is that your ex­-spouse will have your child turn against you and your family. The divorce process is sadly known to tear apart some families and one of the ways this occurs is through parental alienation. Parental alienation is when one parent is heavily influencing the child to hate the other parent, sometimes even to the point of no longer wanting to speak or see the other parent. When the situation gets to this point, major damage to the parent-­child relationship has occurred.

Child custody battles, as well as child support arrangements, are already aspects of a divorce that are highly contested and stressful for both sides. While the motive for parental alienation is not the same for every case, some parents may do this in order to help seek more custody, parenting time or child support payments. However, proving that this is indeed what the parent is trying to do is very hard.  However, with the right attorney, it is certainly possible.

Parent Alienation in NJ Child Support Cases

Parental alienation in its earliest stages are very subtle. Children are known to be susceptible to suggestion and by the time the affects of parental alienation are noticeable, extreme damage has already been done to the parent-­child relationship. It can only take months or even weeks for irreversible relation damage to be done. Even so, there are still some signs to keep an eye out for to see if your child is being influenced by your former spouse that will help you take action sooner rather than later. You will need evidence that the relationship with your child is being strained and altered due to the conduct of the other parent. Some types of evidence of this can be if the other parent badmouths your character in front of the child, asks your child to spy on you, exaggerates minor flaws, the other parent tries to “rescue” the child from visitation with you, he or she denies phone contact with your child, and tell your child to willingly choose to not spend time with you or to pretend you do not exist. Sometimes the other parent will also try to file motions to restrict or limit parenting time or custody, saying that there was prior abuse and has convinced the child of this.

While this does not occur in every divorce case, if you or a loved one suspect that your former spouse is working on parental alienation from you and your child, make sure you speak with a child custody attorney immediately. You do not want to be accused of making unfounded accusations and you do not want to wait too long for possible severe damage to occur in your parent­-child relationship. At the Law Offices of Jef Henninger, Esq., our professional parental alienation lawyers will fight hard to save your parent-­child relationship and to help you exercise your parental rights. Do not passively accept the lack of contact with your child and don’t ignore the warning signs of parental alienation. Speak with one of our parental alienation attorneys with our 24/7 hotline at 1-855-9-JEFLAW and receive a free initial consultation today!