'My Ex Is Turning The Children Against Me' ' How The Family Court Deals With Allegations Of Parental Alienation

• Published date: 30 January 2023
• Subject Matter: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Family and Matrimonial, Family Law, Arbitration & Dispute Resolution
• Law Firm: Birketts
• Author: Mr Oliver Heeks

What is 'parental alienation'?

'Parental alienation' is not a term that is defined in law. Legal professionals and the Family Court focus on the behaviour of the parents, and the impact of that behaviour on the children involved. It is a term that has courted controversy in the last few years, and as such allegations need careful and sensitive handling.

In his keynote address at the Families Need Fathers Conference on 25 June 2018, Sir Andrew McFarlane, then incoming President of the Family Division, explained: 'a parent can either deliberately or inadvertently turn the mind of their child against the other parent so that the child holds a wholly negative view of that other parent where such a negative view cannot be justified by reason of any past behaviour or any aspect of the parent-child relationship'.

Alienating behaviours can be extremely damaging to children and may lead to a permanent degradation of the relationship between the child and the alienated parent. In essence, they are a form of emotional and psychological abuse, though the alienating parent may not even be aware that they are exhibiting these behaviours. Alienating behaviours can be perpetrated and endorsed by members of the wider family.

In more extreme cases, an alienated child may make serious allegations against a parent requiring the intervention of professionals. These can be very destructive and lead to parallel criminal investigations, and parents being suspended from their employment pending investigation.

Family Justice Professionals are all too aware of the risk of alienation in high conflict divorces or separations. Cafcass assess alienating behaviours within the Cafcass Child Impact Assessment Framework (CIAF). Within this framework, any Family Court Adviser (FCA) must consider the reasons for a child's resistance to spend time with a parent and the FCA will make recommendations in their s7 Report, which the Court will consider before making final orders about child arrangements.

What action will the Court take if allegations of alienation are a live issue?

In the case of Re S (Parental Alienation: Cult) [2020] EWCA 568, Peter Jackson LJ stated that there is an obligation on the Court to respond with 'exceptional diligence and take whatever effective measures are available' as inaction on the part of the Court will 'reinforce the position of the stronger party at the expense of the weaker party and the bar will be raised for the next attempt at intervention'. The Court's...