New York marriages end for many different reasons, but often, both sides wind up feeling hurt. If you and your ex are fighting over custody of a child you share, you may question whether your ex is making efforts to turn the child you share against you. On the flip side, your ex may try to argue that it is you who is trying to convince your shared child to alienate him or her.
If you or your ex try to argue that the other party is engaging in parental alienation tactics, the courts may look for certain things to determine if parental alienation is, in fact, taking place. Some of the behaviors and actions that may constitute parental alienation are as follows.
Ongoing efforts to make a child reject the other parent
Parental alienation involves an ongoing campaign against the other party. The parent accusing the other of parental alienation may need to show an ongoing pattern of attempts to influence a child’s feelings about the other parent.
Your child’s lack of guilt
A child feeling the effects of parental alienation is unlikely to express or demonstrate any sense of guilt about his or her treatment of the rejected parent. The child may also feel as if the rejected parent “owes” him or her something, whether it be money, time or something else.
Rejection of one parent’s extended family
A child who is a victim of parental alienation tactics may also start rejecting the alienated parent’s entire extended family.
Parents who engage in parental alienation tactics may have a harder time securing custody of, or visitation time with, their children in a divorce.