Stop It Before It’s Too Late
April is parental alienation awareness month, a perfect time to explore the topic from a preventative view. If your ex is alienating your child, take action immediately. Parental alienation is a form of child abuse, as it can severely impact a child’s development. Thus, promptly take these steps to stop parental alienation before it causes irreparable damage.
Assert Your Rights
Alienating parents often withhold the child as a technique to gain control. If the other parent is refusing to let you see or contact your child, keep trying to assert your rights. Do not make the mistake of giving up or giving in. Remember that this is a difficult time for your child, too. He or she needs to know you still want a close parent-child relationship. Your custody and parenting time orders protect your right to see your child. If the other parent repeatedly violates those orders, involve an attorney.
Write It Down
It may not seem necessary now, but writing down all instances of parental alienation can help you should you ever need to go to court. For example, if the other parent fails to answer your calls to schedule visitation time, jot down when you called. Likewise, print out emails and text messages that are threatening or harmful. Having evidence of the alienation can help you make your case in court.
Get in Therapy
If you are struggling with your relationship with your child, the parental alienation has already gone too far. Get in family therapy as soon as possible to directly address and work through some of these issues before they get out of hand. Reunification therapy is helpful to repair damaged bonds between you and your child. But get some form of family therapy even if the other parent refuses to comply.
Protect Your Child
Remember, your child is a victim of parental alienation, too. Your child deserves uninhibited time with both parents. If the other parent is trying to prevent that, he or she is harming your child. Speak with an experienced New Jersey child custody attorney as soon as you see signs of parental alienation. It may be necessary to take the matter to court to modify or limit the other parent’s custodial or parenting time rights, especially if it is harming your child.
If you need child custody guidance in New Jersey, the Williams Law Group, LLC is here to help. The experienced child custody attorneys at Williams Law Group, LLC can aggressively protect your rights and your child’s best interests. Located in Short Hills, New Jersey, Williams Law Group, LLC provides compassionate and dedicated legal services to Union, Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Monmouth, and Middlesex counties, and the surrounding areas. Our knowledgeable attorneys handle divorce and family law, child custody, and child abuse/neglect cases. Call our office at (908) 810-1083, email us at info@awilliamslawgroup.com, or contact us through our confidential online form to schedule a consultation and ultimately get you connected with an experienced New Jersey divorce and child custody attorney.