Tag Archives: Child Custody

Parental Alienation Issues Negatively Impact Children

A very troublesome issue in some Custody and Parenting Time disputes and Divorces is when a parent intentionally attempts to alienate the children from the other parent. Trying to prove the alienation can be difficult as often there are vastly different stories and claims made by both parents and oftentimes the parties and the children are the only witnesses to the disputed facts.  Most judges are extremely reluctant to allow or have children testify in court and due to budget crunches and other factors it can be very difficult to have the court appoint a guardian ad litem.  Custody studies are also becoming more and more expensive.

In these types of cases it is usually critical a competent psychological evaluator and/or custody expert be retained to assess the children and situation, which will require a court Order unless the opposing party or counsel agree to the assessment.  Often times the alienation is only discovered, after the fact, when there is Parent Reunification Counseling that is completed.

There can also be disputes whether an alleged abusive parent’s own conduct has caused the alienation instead of the opposing party. To successfully prove alienation  claims it is also important to have an experienced divorce attorney who is familiar with these type of unique issues.

Experts recognize the dire tragic impact serious alienation has on children as do some judges. A recent article, by Paul Reitman,  discusses the problems it can cause and the need for more study by the courts. I am including the article in this blog as it is important and helpful:

Courts need to study parental alienation
Courts need to study parental alienation
By: Paul Reitman May 19, 2017

I have been doing parental reunification therapy since 1990 up until 2017. Throughout the years I have been extremely frustrated with parental alienation being minimized by the courts and then being allowed to continue. The impact is serious and can have lifelong effects, and children who are alienated are at a higher risk for psychological and psychiatric disorders.
I would like to discuss the major issues that cause parental alienation to be so difficult to confront.
A syndrome, not a diagnosis
The DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) did not recognize parental alienation as a diagnosis; therefore, the myth has developed that there is no such thing as parental alienation.
Another issue that comes up from time to time is that some courts believe that in any type of adversarial divorce parental alienation is a normal development. This simply is not true. There are many individuals who get divorced who have adversarial feelings towards each other but they are able to discriminate between their own feelings and the need for the child to have a significant relationship with their mother or father.
Parental alienation should not be a diagnosis because it is a syndrome. It is a syndrome that causes children to develop depressive disorders and anxiety disorders, as well as personality disorders, causing severe impairment in the child’s ability to establish future intimate relationships with members of the opposite sex.
Often, courts will simply acknowledge parental alienation and set up a course of action whereby a mental health professional is appointed to do parental reunification. Typically, this will occur once a week, which is totally inadequate to confront the alienating parent. Ideally, there should be a team of mental health professionals who have the appropriate credentials, i.e., training in clinical psychology with respect to child development, attachment theory, and the ability to diagnose individuals and children with mental disorders. They also should be able to assess for parental coaching.
When there are inadequate measures, the alienating parent will typically not discontinue the alienation and the children will typically identify with the alienating parent and create an alliance with that parent. This is not to be unexpected. Children and even adolescents have not matured cognitively to be able to discriminate and understand that they have a right to have a relationship with each parent and because of the psychic conflict and cognitive ambivalence they have, they will identify and ally themselves with one parent.
In my professional experience, it has been the exception when a judge ordered children to be removed from the alienating parent’s home and then participate in deprogramming with a clinical psychologist that has that expertise.
Furthermore, if the alienating parent will not cease his or her activities, then he or she should be required to have supervised visitation.
Comprehensive assessments
There is an array of mental health professionals who participate in parental reunification therapy. Competencies and expertise are crucial and once again, as discussed above, the mental health professional should have training in clinical psychology and the ability to diagnose mental disorders in children and adolescents as well as in adults.
Furthermore, comprehensive assessments are required and roles need to be delineated so that the mental health professional is not taking on too many roles. For example, if a psychologist is appointed to do assessments of the entire family to determine if there is in fact parental alienation occurring, then he or she should not be the reunification therapist.
Psychological assessment is an exquisite art that requires comprehensive training in understanding the uses and abuses of psychometric testing. So often I have encountered assessments utilizing the MMPI-II or the MMPI-II-RF as well as the MCMI-III. These tools report to give an assessment of psychopathology and psychopathy (symptoms of mental illness and symptoms of personality disorders).
However, when parents are in an adversarial relationship or an adversarial custody study, it will likely produce elevations on psychometric tools that are transient and not permanent. For example, a father who is being alienated from his children and is not getting any true psychological assistance or relief will likely endorse symptoms of paranoia, mistrust, anxiety and even depression. If this presentation is taken in a vacuum, it produces a false positive assessment of mental illnesses. The examiner must be trained in understanding reliability and validity of psychological testing as well as being able to be at the center of the assessment, often times dismissing elevations based upon transient symptoms.
Additionally, under the American Psychological Association Guidelines for Custody Studies, a psychologist should not make recommendations about parental alienation without seeing the mother, the father and the children. Seeing one parent only and not examining the children and then making recommendations that: a) parental alienation is occurring; b) the children should be removed from one parent’s household; and c) the children should be placed in a different household, is simply not ethical.
First, parental alienation is a pervasive pattern of confusing children, causing them a great deal of distress, depression and anxiety, and typically if they are living with the alienating parent, they are in a role reversal whereby they are becoming little adults taking care of the alienating parent.
Second, when partial interventions are made and the alienating parent is not understood and given the opportunity for therapy to confront the alienation, then it is highly unlikely that it will stop. I have had too many cases whereby a child at 15 was alienated and partial procedures were implemented and it never dented the child’s psychological status. It went on until the child became 18 and then simply terminated the relationship with the parent that has been alienated.
It is quite clear in the clinical literature that children who come from divorce are at higher risk for mental disorders. However, the literature and research is quite clear that children that are able to maintain and sustain a significant relationship with both parents have a much better chance of living normal lives and become productive.
I highly recommend to the judiciary and the Legislature that a study be undertaken to examine this syndrome and to become familiar with the type of interventions that are required in order to discontinue this syndrome that has significant adverse effects on children and adolescents.
Paul M. Reitman, Ph.D., L.P., F.A.C.F.E., has been a forensic and clinical psychologist since 1981. During that time, he has also practiced in the fields of hospital psychology, outpatient psychology, and has always maintained a clinical practice on both an outpatient and inpatient basis. he has always maintained a clinical practice and was a hospital psychologist up until 2017.

It should be clear alienation needs to be stopped as it can have devastating consequences to children.  If you face these issues immediately contact an experienced divorce attorney to take prompt steps to combat and prove the claims and seek appropriate relief.

Significant Other’s Can Impact Custody Decisions

In an unpublished opinion in Newman vs. Newman, A15-0561 (Minn.Ct. App. Dec.21, 2015) the court of appeals reviewed an appeal from a divorce involving a 16 year marriage involving three minor children with a mother who had been a full-time homemaker since 2003 and a father who recently retired early. The trial court granted joint legal custody, but granted the father sole physical custody.

Mother appealed and claimed the trial court erred in not granting her joint physical custody or sole physical custody.  The appellate court noted there had been acrimony and a lot of personal attacks in the case and that a current harassment restraining order precluded father from harassing the mother. It was noted this conflict did not support their ability to cooperate under a joint physical custody arrangement.

The court also found that although there was not evidence of domestic abuse, the court had deep concern about the safety of the parties’ daughters around the mother’s live in boyfriend who had been convicted of felony invasion of privacy of a minor for hiding a video camera in his 17 year-old, step-daughter’s bathroom. It was specifically ordered the mother’s parenting time not include her boyfriend and that the mother’s boyfriend directing impacted the physical and emotional safety of the children.

In addressing the best interest factors the court noted nine were neutral, one inapplicable, two favored the father and one favored the mother. The deciding factor was the interaction and interrelationship of a person who may significantly affect the children’s best interests.  In this case the mother’s decision to live with a convicted felon who had harmed his step-daughter lead to her losing physical custody.

If custody is an issue in a divorce or paternity action it is crucial to immediately consult with an experienced divorce lawyer or knowledgeable family law attorney. Decisions about living arrangements, significant others, and high conflict disputes with your spouse can preclude sharing joint physical custody or even lead to a longtime homemaker to lose physical custody.

 

 

 

Modifying Custody Agreements under Minnesota Law

Modifying Custody Agreements under Minnesota Law

Under Minnesota Statute Section 581.18(d), when a court has jurisdiction to determine custody orders, the court may not modify a custody order that specifies the child’s primary residence unless, since the prior order, there has been “a change in the circumstances of the child or the parties and that the modification is necessary to serve the best interests of the child.” The Minnesota Court of Appeals recently explained the standards for determining both “a prior order” and “change in circumstances.” In Spanier v. Spanier, A13-2175 (Minn. Ct. App. Aug. 18, 2014), the Court of Appeals held that an order changing parenting time was not a prior order regarding custody, and that a parent who was enlisted in the military and received orders to deploy to another state was not a change in circumstances when the parent was living in another state because of military service at the time of the initial custody decision.

Specifics of the Case

At issue in Spanier was an original divorce decree that had granted the father, who lived in Minnesota, sole physical custody of the children. At that time, the mother was enlisted full-time in the Navy Reserve and resided in San Diego, California, with orders to deploy abroad. Subsequently, in 2010, after she learned she would be was stationed in Minnesota as of January 2011, she moved to modify the custody and parenting time. The parties resolved the motion by agreement, with the father maintaining sole physical custody and the mother having equal parenting time while she lived in Minnesota.

That agreement apparently worked well while both parents lived in Minnesota, but the mother then received orders to deploy to Virginia effective March 2014. She moved to modify the custody order so that her children would move with her to Virginia, and she lost both in the district court and on appeal.

First, the Minnesota Court of Appeals found that the order modifying parenting time so that the mother had equal parenting time was not a prior order regarding custody. Thus, an order that does not modify physical or legal custody is not a “prior order” under section 518.18(d). The result was that the prior order in this case was the original order, which granted the father sole custody, with the children residing in Minnesota while the mother was residing in California.

Second, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held that there was no relevant change of circumstances to warrant a change in custody. The court held that the circumstances – that the mother was deployed by the Navy and living in another state – were the same circumstances that existed at the time of the prior custody order. The court noted that the mother was well aware that her military service could result in her being deployed to locations apart from her children, and that the move to Virginia resulted from her employment, and her employment had not changed since the original custody order. The court also noted that the mother could be deployed anywhere; in fact, she had been deployed to Jordan from August 2009 to March 2010

An Attorney Can Help You with Your Case

This case makes clear that an original custody order can have long-lasting consequences because a change in circumstances is a necessary element of a motion to modify custody. Thus, it is useful to consult with an experienced family law attorney in resolving custody disputes. Jeffrey R. Arrigoni, Attorney at Law can help you solve any of your family-law related problems.