Your child used to run into your arms. Now they won’t even look at you. Contact visits get cancelled with endless excuses. Your ex-partner <a href=”#” data-toggle=”modal” data-target=”#myModal”>let us call you back.</a>claims they’re “protecting” your child from you. Sound familiar?
You’re not imagining it. What you’re experiencing isn’t normal post-divorce adjustment. This is severe parental alienation, and it’s destroying your relationship with your child day by day.
Severe parental alienation doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a calculated campaign that transforms loving children into hostile strangers who suddenly claim to hate the parent they once adored. When this reaches crisis levels, courts abandon their usual cautious approach and order immediate emergency child removal.
The landmark case of MFS (Appeal: Transfer of Primary Care) [2019] EWHC 768 (Fam) shows exactly what happens when severe parental alienation spans years and threatens a child’s mental health. This wasn’t minor contact difficulties. This was six years of systematic psychological manipulation that forced Norwich Family Court Judge North to take the most extreme action possible – immediate emergency removal.
The MFS Case at a Glance:
If contact with your child has been suspended for months, if every attempt at reconciliation fails, if your child suddenly uses adult language to describe why they “hate” you, you may be facing severe parental alienation requiring urgent legal intervention.
Don’t wait another day. Call us on 0330 094 5880 for your free consultation.
The timeline in MFS reads like a horror story for any loving parent. It started in 2012 when their child was just two years old. The mother began by demanding supervised contact only. Then came allegations requiring social services involvement. By 2013, video evidence captured the maternal grandfather telling the three-year-old that his father was “horrible.”
The pattern continued relentlessly. Contact got obstructed year after year. Excuses multiplied. The allegations grew more serious. Then in March 2017, everything stopped. The mother completely suspended all contact, writing to the court claiming the father had “smacked hard, barged and abused” their child.
These allegations were completely fabricated. Professional observations consistently showed the child relaxed and happy with his father during supervised contact. He showed no fear whatsoever. Yet six years of severe parental alienation had convinced an eight-year-old boy that his loving father was dangerous.
Does this progression feel familiar? The gradual escalation from “concerns” to complete contact refusal? The allegations that seem to multiply and get more serious over time? You’re not alone, and there is hope.
Parental alienation is when a child’s resistance or hostility towards one parent is not justified and is the result of psychological manipulation by the other parent. As a result of such manipulation by one parent a child may want to stop any contact with a parent following the divorce or separation of the parents.
If the courts can establish a case of parental alienation, then there are a few options available to the court which are:
Considerations made by the court when looking at parental alienation
The judge ordered a section 37 report to be prepared and appointed a guardian for the child. The judge had concerns that the child’s comments in relation to the contact was due to influence and as a resulted directed for a psychologist assessment of the parents. The summary of the psychologist assessment was as follows:
1. The father does not suffer from mental health problems
A child psychiatrist report was also commissioned which identified that the child was suffering from stress which was a result of the parental situation and the child has been subject to and to having imbibed a very negative view of his father as well as his stepmother. A change of residence would alleviate stress if the court concluded that the mother had encouraged the child to form an unnecessary and unrealistically negative view of the father.
The Guardian expressed concern that the mother was asserting that the child had OCD and Tourette’s when there was no medical basis for this and was relaying inaccurate information about the father.
Following the above findings of the psychologist assessment of the parents, the s.37 report and the child psychiatrist report the judge was of the opinion that the mothers behaviour had caused the child significant emotional harm and made the order that the child was to immediately move to live with his father.
The mother filed a notice seeking permission to appeal against the order of 28th September 2018. The mother seeks that the order be set aside. The notice was filed some 5 weeks out of time. In between the final hearing and the lodging of the mother’s notice she had parted company with the solicitors and counsel who represented her at the final hearing and had instructed new solicitors and leading counsel.
The mothers’ grounds of appeal were:
1. The decision of the court was made on the basis of a serious procedural irregularity in that the influential report of psychologist, Dr Willemsen was prepared and presented to the court despite a number of breaches of guidance and proper procedure as to the preparation and presentation of such reports
The judge dismissed the appeal and stated “Having conducted what I consider to have been a very detailed review of the evidence before HHJ North and his judgment with the benefit of powerful written and oral advocacy in support of the parties cases I have reached the clear conclusion that the appeal is without merit. Whilst it was only possible to reach this clear view after that detailed consideration it is clear that neither of the grounds of appeal had any realistic prospect of success when tested against the evidence that the judge had available to him.”
The judge agreed that the due to the damage caused to the child from the parental alienation the decision to change the primary carer was in the child’s best interest and it was a decision which was proportionate on the evidence obtained.
This again is a clear reminder that parental alienation can cause significant harm to the child psychologically and is considered serious by the courts who have the power to remove the child from the care of the parent who is causing the parental alienation.
Clinical psychologist Dr Willemsen, who specializes in child and family psychology at the Tavistock Clinic and Great Ormond Street Hospital, spent months assessing the family. His findings were devastating. The mother had persistently portrayed the father as violent and mentally unwell. She had systematically denigrated his role as a father. The child had completely identified with his mother’s negative feelings and now saw his father through her eyes of hatred.
Dr Willemsen’s conclusions were unequivocal: “The mother has persistently portrayed the father negatively, as violent, as mentally unwell, and denigrated him as the father. The child identified with the negative and hateful feelings expressed by the mother towards the father… This case, in my view, is a case in which the mother alienates the father as a result of her collusion with her son against the father. This constitutes emotional abuse.”
Child psychiatrist Dr Blincow discovered something equally shocking. The mother claimed her son had OCD and Tourette’s syndrome. Medical professionals had diagnosed these conditions based solely on the mother’s reports. But Dr Blincow found something else entirely. The child was suffering from stress-related emotional disorder caused by “the conflict that he has been subject to and to having imbibed a very negative view of his father as well as his stepmother.”
Even more concerning, Dr Blincow’s research showed that successful intervention in severe parental alienation cases requires action before age eleven or twelve. The window for saving this relationship was rapidly closing.
If your ex-partner claims your child suddenly has medical conditions that professionals can’t independently verify, if your child uses phrases that sound exactly like your ex-partner when criticizing you, you’re witnessing severe parental alienation in action.
Severe parental alienation cases require immediate, specialized intervention because time works against you every single day. Each month of delay enables deeper psychological damage to your child. Research proves that intervention windows close as children age and manipulation becomes more entrenched.
The evidence requirements are complex and demanding. Courts need comprehensive psychological assessments confirming emotional abuse. They require detailed documentation of systematic manipulation patterns. Professional corroboration from multiple independent sources becomes essential. Emergency application procedures demand precise legal expertise and perfect timing.
Traditional approaches fail when alienation reaches severe levels. Family mediation becomes impossible when one parent is actively sabotaging every intervention. Standard therapy cannot work while psychological manipulation continues at home. Even supervised contact can be undermined by sophisticated alienating tactics.
Our family law specialists understand that severe parental alienation represents a psychiatric emergency for children. We’ve successfully assisted with emergency custody transfers and immediate intervention orders in cases where children’s psychological survival was at stake. We know which experts to instruct, how to build compelling evidence, and when you should make emergency applications for immediate court intervention.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. When years of systematic manipulation threaten to permanently destroy your relationship with your child, when false allegations multiply and contact becomes impossible, only immediate expert legal intervention can secure the emergency action these situations demand.
Don’t let another day pass while manipulation deepens and your child’s mental health deteriorates. Call us on 0330 094 5880 for your free consultation. Our expert family lawyers understand the urgency these cases demand and have the specialised knowledge to achieve the emergency intervention your family needs.
Should you have any questions or concerns in relation to parental alienation or any child matter you can contact our offices to arrange a free initial consultation. Contact our family lawyers in Oxford today on 0330 094 5880 or let us call you back.
The legal consequences of parental alienation include contempt of court findings, custody modification orders, mandatory reunification therapy, supervised contact arrangements, and in severe cases, complete transfer of custody to the alienated parent. UK family courts take parental alienation seriously as it constitutes emotional abuse. CAFCASS often provides independent assessments to help courts understand the severity of the situation.
Yes, UK family courts can remove a child from an alienating parent and transfer custody to the previously alienated parent. This extreme measure occurs when courts find clear evidence of psychological manipulation that harms the child’s emotional wellbeing and relationship with the other parent.
To prove parental alienation, you need documented evidence including communication records showing negative messages about you, witness testimony from teachers or family members, CAFCASS reports, records of blocked contact attempts, and professional psychological assessments demonstrating the child’s unjustified rejection. Children experiencing this trauma often benefit from support through NHS mental health services during court proceedings.
UK family courts identify parental alienation through CAFCASS assessments, psychological evaluations, guardian reports, and evidence of manipulative behaviors including denigration campaigns, contact interference, false allegations, and encouraging the child’s unjustified rejection of the other parent.
Reunification therapy is a court-ordered therapeutic intervention designed to repair the damaged relationship between an alienated child and parent. It involves specialized counsellors working with both the child and alienated parent to address the psychological manipulation and rebuild their natural bond.
Yes, parental alienation is recognised by UK courts as a form of emotional abuse. It involves psychological manipulation that damages a child’s sense of identity, self-worth, and connection with an important parent, causing significant emotional harm that can persist into adulthood.
When a parent is found in contempt of court for parental alienation, they may face sanctions including fines, community service, suspended prison sentences, immediate custody changes, supervised contact only, and mandatory attendance at parenting programmes or therapy sessions.
Parental alienation cases can take several months to years to resolve, depending on the severity of manipulation, the child’s age, court availability, and willingness of parties to engage with therapeutic interventions. Early intervention significantly improves outcomes and reduces resolution time.
CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) investigates allegations of parental alienation, assesses the child’s welfare, interviews family members, prepares detailed reports for the court, and makes recommendations about custody arrangements and therapeutic interventions in the child’s best interests.
Yes, parental alienation often extends to the rejected parent’s entire extended family, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Children may be manipulated to reject all family members associated with the alienated parent, causing widespread family breakdown and loss of important relationships.
Should you have any questions or concerns in relation to parental alienation or any child matter you can contact our offices to arrange a free initial consultation. Contact our family
lawyers in Oxford today on 0330 094 5880 or let us call you back.
We are a team of family law and divorce experts with years of experience in dealing with all areas of family law matters.
We are not part of a firm of Solicitors, do not undertake legal reserved actives unless permitted and are therefore entirely independent.
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