How Do You Prove Parental Alienation Syndrome?

Step One to Proving Parental Alienation - Identify Witnesses

The mother and father are obvious witnesses.

One of them is likely the culprit and the alienating parent. The other is the victim of alienation.

There are also the children as witnesses and the subject of alienation. Each of these can help prove parental alienation.

How do you prove parental alienation when the teenager is completely alienated?

Older children (teenagers) significantly alienated from a parent may not recognize the alienation.

For them, after years of alienation, they may not look at the alienating parent's conduct as wrong.

For that reason, if a parent completely alienated the older child, he or she may not be a helpful witness.

It is not an exaggeration to state an alienating parent can brainwash children like this. We have seen some incredible examples.

Proving parental alienation with an older teenage minor child who the alienating parent brainwashed usually means you have to rely on evidence other than the child's testimony.

Teenagers who are not yet alienated as witnesses to proving parental alienation.

Teenagers however are often helpful if they are not alienated yet. Because of their age, they are able to articulate alienation better than a younger child.

For example, if we have a 16-year-old who the alienating parent did not yet significantly alienate from the other parent, that 16-year-old may be more willing to state what mom or dad said or did.

These issues are of course not black or white. So much depends on the case's individual facts.

How do you prove parental alienation with younger children?

You have heard the expression, "kids say the darndest things."

If a child is between age 6 through 12, they may not really understand what is happening to them. They may hear mom or dad disparage the other parent. They may hear mom or dad say other things that cause the child confusion about the other parent.

But do they really understand what mom or dad are trying to accomplish or the effect it has on them?

The answer may be no and if the answer is no, placing the children through an appropriate interview process may actually expose the alienation.

The therapist is a potential witness to proving parental alienation.

Another potential witness is a therapist who consulted with the parents.

If the parents are in joint marital therapy, under certain circumstances, a parent may compel the therapist to testify, if he or she was a witness to the parental alienation including admissions by the alienating parent about the parental alienation.

Whether a parent can compel the therapist to testify is a question of law and an experienced attorney can tell you whether you can compel the testimony.

Of course, the main issue becomes the therapist-patient privilege and whether it would apply in such a situation.

Relatives and friends as potential witnesses to proving parental alienation.

Separate from the above, there are also potential witnesses to parental alienation. For example, there are:

• grandparents,
• uncles,
• brothers or sisters,
• nannies, or
• close friends

If any of these people spent significant time with the children, they can attest to what mom or dad did.

They can also attest to what they heard the children say, although this "hearsay" may sometimes be inadmissible. If admissible, this may lead to evidence of parental alienation.

The above are just some of the examples of witnesses that may help to prove parental alienation.

Who talks to the children about parental alienation?

How does this interview take place? The most common is a court-appointed child custody evaluator, minor's counsel or a court-appointed investigator.

Minor's counsel

If a court-appointed lawyer (minor's counsel) for the children speaks to them, the lawyer may be able to understand from the children why they say what they say or feel as they do.

They may also understand why they do not want to see one of the parents.

To learn more about how a child may express a preference in court, check out our article titled: How is a Child's Preference and Choice in Custody Determined?

Child custody evaluators

The same is true with a private child custody evaluator, sometimes called a 730 evaluator.

730 refers to Evidence Code 730.

What is a 730 evaluation? They are private child custody evaluations where typically a psychologist will interview children, the parents, collateral witnesses, conduct psychological testing, and engage in related investigations to ultimately make a recommendation to the court on custody and visitation issues.

Through this investigation and evaluation, the private child custody evaluator may be able to flesh out the alienation.