Many of the issues facing parents involved in a divorce or paternity action involving child custody are not specific to New Mexico, but occurs in all fifty states. One such issue is the growing concern of parental alienation.
A contested custody dispute often creates a situation where one parental attempts to alienate children from the other parent. An example of parent alienation includes when one parent seeks to alienate the child from the other parent by doing things like preventing visitation between the child and the other parent. Also, bad-mouthing the absent parent can be considered parental alienation. Sometimes it is possible for grand parents and other relatives to alienate a child from an absent parent. In extreme situations, one parent can go so far as making false allegations in court to prevent the other parent from seeing the child.
Whatever the cause, parental alienation is a serious situation and if it goes on for an extend period of time, it can result in destroying a parent-child relationship. Counseling or psychological therapy is often needed and recommended for all of the parties involved in a parental alienation matter. If a party to custody action believes that alienation is a serious concern, they will need to bring that to the court’s attention immediately. This allows the court to put in place some safeguards to stop or limit the breakdown of communication and trust between the child and the alienated parent.
At Sanders, Bruin, Coll & Worley, P.A. we have experienced divorce and family law attorneys who know how essential it is to getting these issues heard and addressed by the court before it is too late save the relationship that exists between a parent and a child.
