How can you prove parental alienation?

If your marriage and divorce were acrimonious, you may have some justifiable anger and resentment toward your ex-spouse. Because you share children, though, you understand the importance of not letting your emotions affect the relationship your kids have with your former husband or wife.

Your ex may not be so agreeable. If your children’s other parent tries to turn the kids against you, they may suffer long-term psychological and emotional damage. Fortunately, if you have evidence of parental alienation, you may be able to ask a judge to modify your existing custody order.

Gathering evidence

With some legal matters, there is specific evidence you need to prove your case. That is not necessarily true with proving parental alienation. After all, relevant evidence may depend on the alienating tactics your ex-spouse uses to sabotage your parent-child relationship.

Still, because parental alienation is not typically a single event, you may want to keep a contemporaneous journal of your ex’s bad behaviors. To do so, simply jot down what you observe and record the time and date.

If your ex-spouse’s text messages, emails, letters or voicemails have alienating language, you should also keep a copy and give one to your attorney.

Modifying your custody order

New York judges must consider the best interests of the children when modifying custody orders. Because of its potential to harm your kids, parental alienation is never in their best interests. Remember, judges typically want both parents to make a good faith effort to make co-parenting work.

Time is of the essence when stopping parental alienation, as it can quickly destroy your children’s emotional and psychological well-being. Ultimately, if you suspect you and your kids are victims of parental alienation, you probably need to act quickly to prevent serious harm.