Parental Alienation & Private Children Law - Caselaw, Courts & Experts

Introduction

The meaning of the term ‘parental alienation’ has been debated at length throughout a number of cases in the family court recently. It is a term that describes a collection of behaviours which may be better considered as emotional abuse, or psychological harm to a child. What is not in dispute is that is a common feature of cases within the family justice system, either as an allegation, as a symptom of breakdown or as a genuine safeguarding concern for the children at the centre of proceedings.

This webinar will look at a thread of ‘parental alienation’ cases throughout the last decade to examine how the court treats such allegations, how it can be combated and the tools at the court’s disposal for dealing with significant psychological splitting or implacable hostility between a child and a non-resident parent.

The webinar will also look at the treatment of the phenomenon by experts, and the appropriateness of experts within the family court to deal with it, to include the recent comments of the court in Re C ('Parental Alienation'; Instruction of Expert) [2023].

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• A definition of parental alienation
• Signs and symptoms and how to spot them
• How to properly make and defend allegations of alienation
• A history of the treatment of alienation by the English Family Courts
• Recent cases
• Available tools
• Instruction of experts

This webinar was recorded on 3rd October 2023