How can the courts define & deal with cases of parental alienation? David Emmerson weighs up the causes of unjustified hostility & the importance of maintaining family contact
- Parental alienation cases, although rare, can be very challenging for the courts to deal with, given the difficulties in defining it and the fact that maintaining contact with both parents may not always be in the best interests of the children.
Parental alienation is fairly rare, but when it happens it is devastating for the children and the alienated parent.
A sorry tale
In the case of Re A and B (Children: ‘Parental Alienation’) (No 5) [2023] EWHC 1864 (Fam) in July 2023, Mr Justice Keehan gave his fifth major judgment in a difficult case that has lasted a number of years. In the case, the mother had been found to have alienated the children against the father. The judge made a substantial series of findings of fact against the mother in respect of her alienating behaviours, the judge having previously ordered that the children should live with the father
