Be in Control of the Situation
Video Transcribed: If you’re dealing with an alienation situation, how should you manage yourself? My name is Brian L. Jackson. I am a Tulsa father’s rights attorney here with Dads.Law.
We’ve talked about what parental alienation is. We talked about some legal options for how to deal with it. I want to kind of talk about it in terms of how to handle yourself, like when you’re interacting with a hostile co-parent or dealing with that situation, so as not to exacerbate the problem.
I think a good starting point is you’re going to have to show a great deal of restraint and self-control. If you were dealing with a hostile co-parent, if mom’s deliberately trying to interfere, the last thing you want to do is hand her something that she can use to go run off to court and try to legitimize her behavior. So, in other words, what we’re talking about here is to be very careful what you say to her, and be exceptionally careful what you put in writing.
Also, you really need to be careful how you interact with your kids. Even if they’re being hostile with you, obviously, you don’t need to take disrespect. But what it does mean is you want to be really careful not to say anything that could be construed in a manner as being abusive or threatening or undue pressure, or whatever, because you could expect that that sort of thing is going to be painted in the worst light possible. By the time it finds its way to the court from the other side, they’re going to say you were being verbally abusive. You can fully expect that if you’re dealing with that kind of a parent.
So it’s extremely important that you keep your cool. Do not show frustration to the children. Even if they are acting in a manner that is frustrating, do not show … don’t get angry visibly with the ex, and watch what you say. Seriously. Because any of those things could wind up in a court pleading that could come back around and bite you in the ass. So it’s important to be very cautious about that. You do not want a situation where something that started out as her acting completely in the wrong, you’ve handed her … you’ve now handed her ammunition to try to shoot at you. When you’re dealing with a parent like that, you can absolutely expect dirty tricks like that. So just be aware.
If you are dealing with a situation where you are frustrated or you need help, one thing that you want to get is good legal counsel from an Oklahoma divorce lawyer. One place you can get good legal counsel is at Dads.Law where fathers are not disposable.