Ocean County Parental Alienation

Have you noticed recent changes in your relationship with your child? Perhaps you have seen odd or unusual behaviors that you do not remember seeing when you and your child’s other parent first divorced or separated. For example, maybe your child is now acting different toward you, as if he or she no longer fully trusts you or is scared of you. Perhaps your child’s efforts at communicating with you regularly have decreased or your child is no longer wanting to spend as much time with you as he or she once did. Do not brush these behaviors off as having an innocent origin: you may be seeing the effects of parental alienation efforts being carried out by your child’s other parent and/or some other person.

If successful, parental alienation efforts and activities will result in the deterioration of your relationship with your child, not only will your child not want to spend time with you as much, but your child may even despise you well into his or her adulthood. Think of the memories and special events you would miss, all because you allowed the other parent or some other third party to come between you and your child. Team up with Aretsky Law Group, P.C., and together we will help ensure that your relationship with your child is protected.

It is not entirely clear why some parents would choose to come between the relationship their child has with the other parent. Perhaps one parent fears that his or child will prefer the other parent and choose to one day live primarily with that other parent; perhaps one parent believes he or she can inflict emotional pain on the other parent by attacking the relationship that other parent has with his or her child. Whatever the motivation, parental alienation efforts may include:

• Speaking ill of the other parent in front of the child – calling the other parent derogatory names, for example, or saying the other parent is a bad parent;
• Insinuating or telling the child that the child does not have to visit with the other parent despite a court-ordered visitation schedule;
• Threatening or manipulating the child to dissuade him or her from visiting with or speaking with the other parent; and/or
• Physically preventing the other parent from seeing the child, even during times where the other parent is lawfully entitled to custody of the child.

If successful, efforts at parental alienation will result in an emotional barrier or wall being created between the other parent and his or her child. The two may not be as close as they once were, or the child may not see any benefit to spending time with the other parent (either for the child himself or herself or the other parent). Parents who are alienated from their children may not see or speak with their children except on a very superficial level, and such children may not desire to have the alienated parent share in any special life events such as birthdays, graduations, and other similar events.

New Jersey’s Revised Statutes, Section 9:2-4 clearly expresses the belief of the state legislature that a child’s “best interests” are served when both of the child’s parents can play a meaningful role in the child’s upbringing. This includes having the opportunity to visit the child and spend time with him or her, create memories with the child, and assist in making decisions that affect how the child will be raised.

Parental alienation threatens the child’s “best interests” and, therefore, most every family law judge in Ocean County will take action to stop instances of parental alienation when they become aware that such activity is occurring. Courts generally become aware of such activity when the parent who is the target of alienation efforts files a written motion with the court and asks the court to hold a hearing. At such a hearing, the parent who files the motion must present evidence and/or the testimony of witnesses that shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the other parent (or some other third party) has been engaged in behavior designed to alienate the child from the child’s other parent.

With years of experience and knowledge and the resources necessary to prevail in claims of parental alienation, Aretsky Law Group, P.C. is committed to and capable of helping victims of parental alienation assert their legal rights quickly and obtain court orders prohibiting the perpetrator of parental alienation efforts from continuing in this destructive course of conduct.

For prompt and professional assistance when you are the target of parental alienation efforts in Ocean County, contact Aretsky Law Group, P.C. by calling 800-537-4154 to schedule a Consultation in our Lakewood or Toms River meeting locations by appointment only.