Marriages end for a seemingly endless number of reasons. Even though you have decided to divorce your spouse, you want what is best for your kids. After all, the parent-child relationship is one of the most significant in society. Still, in addition to divvying up marital property, you must work through custody issues.
In New Jersey, divorcing parents must address both physical and legal custody of the kids. While you and your soon-to-be-ex-spouse have options, you do not want an unscrupulous spouse to try to destroy your relationship with your children. If that happens, you may need to mediate the matter or ask a judge to intervene.
Parental alienation is bad for kids
What some child psychologists call mental manipulation, parental alienation occurs when one parent tries to turn the children against the other parent. This type of behavior may be either intentional or inadvertent, but the results are the same. That is, if an alienating parent is successful, he or she may cause long-term harm to both you and your children.
Parental alienation comes in many forms
Because parental alienation may take a variety of forms, it can be difficult to uncover. Nonetheless, if your spouse does any of the following, he or she is at least behaving inappropriately:
- Making false accusations about your illegal behavior, abuse or neglect
- Telling your children that you do not love them or cannot keep them safe
- Asking your kids to spy on you
- Saying negative comments about you or your family members
Parental alienation is a serious matter
Judges in the Garden State consider the children’s best interests when making custody determinations. While several factors may help determine what is best for the kids, parental alienation certainly is not good for children. As such, if you have evidence of your spouse engaging in this type of behavior, a judge may favor you in a custody case.
While divorce can be hard on any family, you do not want your partner to sabotage the good relationship that you have with the young ones in your life. By understanding the ins and outs of parental alienation, you can do what is right for you and your kids.