header-logo header-logo

Parental alienation: a hostile environment?

22 September 2023 / David Emmerson OBE
Issue: 8041 / Categories: Features , Family , Divorce
printer mail-detail
138505
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

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Jersey litigation lead appointed to global STEP Council

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

Firm invests in future talent with new training cohort

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
back-to-top-scroll