More warring parents in Family Court disputes are claiming former partners have poisoned their children against them, a new study shows.
It reveals fathers are almost as likely as mothers to be guilty of deliberately alienating children from the other parent.
Nicholas Bala, a professor of law at Queens University, Canada, and an expert in parental alienation, will present his findings from Australian data at a seminar in Melbourne later this month at the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
He said there were genuine cases of parental alienation, where children were brainwashed and manipulated into an unfounded fear and rejection of the other parent.
''But there are other cases where the child has legitimate reasons to be afraid of a parent,'' he said, ''and it's important for the court to unpack the real reasons.''
The study found where a parent was considered to have alienated the child from the other parent, judges ordered the child live with the ''rejected'' parent in half of the cases. Read more
This article provides basic information only and is not a substitute for a professional or legal advice . If you are likely to be involved in court proceedings or legal action, you should get advice from a family law lawyers.
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