Is Your Partner Alienating Your Child?

Justice Carew ordered that the father be granted sole custody of the child, whilst the mother is to only have supervised visits for a period of two years.  This case involved allegations of a mother alienating a child from her father.

So, what lead to this decision and a total reversal of the previous orders?

Previously the child had lived with the mother full time, with the exception of 3 nights a week where he went to live with his father. This arrangement was not particularly consistent however because the mother had suspended the father’s rights to see the child in 2019 and again in 2020. These suspensions were triggered by interim orders made based on allegations by the mother that the father posed a threat of sexual harm to the child.

In response, the father alleged that the mother had intentionally made false allegations of abuse and manipulated the legal process to ensure he was denied access to his child. The father told the court, that because of these actions, the mother posed “an unacceptable risk of psychological abuse/and or emotional harm to the child”.

Ultimately, the court sided with the father, asserting that because of the mother’s actions, and her deeply negative views of the father, she was likely to cause harm to the child. To protect the child from psychological and emotional harm the judge determined the child was better off in the custody of the father.

For more information about the common rules around child custody after Divorce in Victoria, make sure to check our latest blog.

If you need the assistance of a Melbourne child custody lawyer,  please contact Rowan Skinner and Associates Lawyers on 99959 155 for a no obligation discussion about your case. We also service clients in Melbourne Northern Suburbs, such as Clifton Hill, Northcote, Alphington, Carlton, Fitzroy, North Fitzroy, Kew and Heidelberg.