Many Ohio parents sadly use their kids as pawns in their custody battles when they split up. Many moms and dads do this in hopes of depriving their ex of visitation time with their child or to get them to pay more financial support. If a parent makes distasteful or unfounded remarks about the other in front of their child, then this can easily turn the child against their mom or dad. This process, which can result in a son or daughter and their parent becoming estranged is known as parental alienation.
Parental alienation can backfire against a parent. If a parent can prove that their son or daughter’s mom or dad has manipulated and indoctrinated the child to turn against them, then they stand to lose a lot. Any parent who engages in this may lose their custodial rights and have their parenting time reduced to nothing more than supervised visitation.
It’s sadly not uncommon for those parents that have been accused of domestic violence to use the system against their victims. Researchers on the matter have found that it’s quite commonplace for one parent to accuse the other of parental alienation once they’ve been accused of having previously been violent.
Researchers working on one study found that fathers were often able to gain an upper hand and win custody of their kids despite having previously abused of physical or sexual abuse simply because the judge believed that the mother was engaging in parental alienation.
One aspect of family law cases that’s quite concerning is that parents aren’t guaranteed a right to an attorney as they would be if they facing criminal charges. There’s no burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt in family law cases. Thus, the court has wide latitude in reaching a decision. The way that a judge decides to resolve a case is often based on who they believe was the most convincing. This creates a fear of reprisal in which many parents believe they will be penalized by bringing up alleged abuse against their former spouse or partner in court.
You must know your rights if you’ve been accused of parental alienation. An experienced divorce mediation attorney can review your case and let you know if your suspicions of parental alienation are founded and let you know how you can fight the troubling accusations that have been waged against you in your Hamilton case.
