Every lawyer who handles divorce cases recognizes that grimace. We often see the reaction from other lawyers and people in everyday conversation when they hear we litigate divorces and custody matters. Most often, the grimace is followed by a verbal recognition of how “draining” or “difficult” the business can be.
Invariably, that reference relates not merely to the two individuals who have decided that their marriage is no longer viable; rather, the fallout often squarely lands on the children caught in the midst of a custody battle during a divorce – or sometimes, in a residential relocation petition by one parent in the years after a divorce.
Where young children are involved, divorce lawyers regrettably see a frequency of parental alienation by one party or the other, an active or passive attempt by a divorce litigant to cause the children of that union to align against his or her soon-to-be ex-spouse.