Parents who are falsely accused of child abuse may want to consider monetary sanctions
against the other parent as well as primary custody and even sole legal custody.
It can be more difficult knowing what to tell a child if the parent has committed a sexual or violent offence, or a
crime against the other parent or another family member.
When a parent who has custody makes disrespectful and abusive
statements against the other parent and attempts to wean the children away, the decree can properly be modified and the custody changed.
Sometimes it is important that one parent take a firm
stand against the other parent's wishes, especially when those wishes are aimed at pleasing children's consumer needs.
If one parent is granted sole physical
custody against the other parent's wishes, the other parent may be granted visitation time or parenting time with the child.
Contrary to this philosophy is a behaviour known as parental alienation, in which one parent undermines an intact parent - child relationship, turning the child or
children against the other parent.
One of the factors that a judge must consider is whether there has been physical abuse or the threat of physical abuse by one
parent against the other parent or child.
Under some circumstances, where one parent plans to move out of the
state against the other parents will, it threatens the joint custody arrangements because it makes physical custody impossible.
«In some situations, the child may as a result become «triangulated» into the interparental dispute and form an unhealthy alliance with the parent they are enmeshed
with against the other parent.
Judith Wallerstein cautions us that a serious problem exists when a child and a parent of either sex joins forces in an
alignment against the other parent's lifestyle, values or identity.
For example, at a 2010 meeting of the Association of Family Court Conciliators (AFCC), which is the largest membership organization dealing with families involved in family court, 98 % of the attendees at a plenary session who completed a survey reported that they «much» or «very much» agreed that one parent could turn a child
against the other parent even though that other parent did nothing to warrant the child's rejection.
They fight over who is going to have custody, they use the kids as weapons in a war of words, and they do their best to poison their children's
minds against the other parent.
Generally speaking, termination of parental rights if fairly rare, and only imposed in the most extreme cases, for example, where a parent has subjected a child to severe abuse, including abandonment, torture, chronic abuse, or sexual abuse, or has committed similar
acts against the other parent.
In this way, the court can exercise its discretion to enforce the payment of support by levying a
fine against the other parent, or in some extreme cases, imprisoning them.
Any request you make for modification is essentially a
lawsuit against the other parent or ex-spouse and should be filed with the courts — with assistance from your attorney.
Efforts by one parent (referred to as the alienating parent) to turn the child
unjustifiably against the other parent (referred to as the alienated parent), through the use of indoctrination, manipulation, programming or other types of undue influence of the child.
Additionally, some people attempt to use their mobility to have their custody cases heard in a jurisdiction with more favorable laws or even to move their children to a new
location against the other parent's will.
Ene v. Ene, 2015 ONSC 867: This case considers whether a young child should be temporarily removed from a parent's care after that parent has engaged in a campaign of
alienation against the other parent.
Parental conflict and poor cooperative parenting skills can land such a teenager in the middle of a triangle that can result in one parent siding with the
teenager against the other parent.
'' [Parental alienation] is a distinctive family response to divorce in which one parent forms an alliance with the child or children
against the other parent through a campaign of hatred and denigration,» Lupichuk told the Star Phoenix.
In high conflicting cases, a parent could instill negative thoughts or brainwash a child
against the other parents hence the parental alienation phenomenon was born.
«What you need are a good set of facts» in applying Rule 24 (4), Feldstein says, and in this case, Hughes relied on a report filed to the court by the Office of the Children's Lawyer outlining the behaviour of the former
husband against the other parent.