Parental Alienation Syndrome

Court Case(s)

The following was received by AFRA recently:

(only slightly edited, names removed)

In the state of Virginia, fathers had another success in court today, this time it resulted in a TRANSFER OF CUSTODY. The judge (Judge Flippen, Norfolk, VA) said that the mother had "failed in one of her primary responsibilities as the custodial parent, and that is to foster and facilitate the relationship between the child and the non-custodial parent. For that reason I am awarding custody of the child to the father." Our platform focused primarily on parental alienation. The child's mother has done everything in her power to sever the relationship between her 5 year old daughter and her father, including false allegations of abuse. She began taking the child to a therapist with the goal of enlisting the aid of this mental health professional in totally terminating the visitation rights, but when the therapist (who was on to her tricks) refused to participate, the mother abruptly stopped the therapy and began taking the child to a new counsellor. The therapist was very concerned because the child was very close to her father and expressed her desire to see him more, and the therapist came to court today and testified on behalf of the father. She was fair and honest and ended up being forced by the mother's attorney to give her opinion on whether or not she felt a change in custody was warranted. She hesitated, but eventually said that she felt if the mother continued along this vein it would be in the best interests of the child to be with the father. For anyone out there who is going through the same thing, one of the most important things you can possibly do is KEEP A LOG. We familiarized ourselves with the Best Interests of the Child statues of Virginia and, with that in mind, kept a journal of everything that transpired for the past year between us and the child and the mother, no matter how small or insignificant we thought it was. As a result, we were so well-prepared and accurate regarding dates, times, and incidents, that we think the mother was sure we'd had a private investigator after her! When asked on the witness stand what visitation schedule father felt the mother should have in the event he was awarded custody, his reply was "the visitation schedule I wish I had now. I would love to see my daughter during the week for dinners and to help with homework, and to be able to talk to her on the phone as often as possible without interference." What a beautiful and heartfelt answer. Of course this decision will be appealed, but according to our attorney, once the transfer of custody has taken place the courts will be reluctant to change it back so quickly. On top of everything else, Mike had filed a Show Cause last July because the mother denied his week long summer visitation with his daughter, under the premise of protecting her from the alleged abuse. We didn't let that go, and today, as well as losing physical custody of her child, she was found GUILTY of this denied visititation and was sentenced to 10 DAYS IN JAIL. This sentence was suspended for two years, provided she follows the judges new custody and visitation order to a tee (as he put it). Today's judgement was so significant to us personally, but also indicative of the court's changing attitudes and increasing intolerance of parental alienation in the context of divorce. And we sincerely hope this feeling continues to prevail in juvenile courts everywhere. Thanks to all of you for your support and for sharing your stories with all of us.

If you know of any other cases of custody won through the PAS, please let us know!

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