What Can I do if my Child Does Not Want to See Me?

‘Implacable hostility’ is a term that is becoming all too common in the United Kingdom. It is often better known by the American term ‘parental alienation’. It is when a child adopts an unwarranted rejection towards another parent which is unjustified and often fuelled by residing parent.

So what can the non resident parent do?

The family court has a number of tools at its disposal that they are able to use in cases of this kind.

When dealing with cases involving children, the Family Court follows something called the “welfare principle”. This says that the welfare of the child is the court’s paramount concern. From this starting point, the court will generally proceed from a presumption that it usually is in a child’s best interest to have a relationship with both of their parents.

Even in cases of “implacable hostility” the court can still make orders for the non-resident parent see and build a relationship with their child. This can be in the form of direct face to face contact or indirect contact by way of letter and cards. If the resident parent does not then encourage the child to attend contact in the face of a child arrangements order there may be implications.

Often there can be proceedings to enforce child arrangements order, but in very extreme cases the family court has the power to remove the child from the resident parent and place the child with the non resident parent. The reasoning behind this is that if a court has ordered that contact is in the child’s best interests, then it needs to do all it possibly can to ensure it happens. If a parent frustrates this then that parent might not always be furthering the child’s best interests and welfare. At the end of the day court orders have teeth!

If you would like advice on ‘implacable hostility’, or on any issue involving children you can contact Green Solicitors on 0121 233 2042