What Losing Contact With a Child Does to a Parent’s Mind
Research indicates that parents alienated from their children suffer significant mental health consequences, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Current family court systems lack effective procedures to assess post-custody mental health…
The Narrative Nobody Fact-Checks
A recent tabloid story about Brad Pitt explores how narratives surrounding custody disputes can be reshaped over time. It emphasizes discrepancies between Pitt's past admissions of drinking problems and the anonymous claims blaming his ex-wife Angelina…
Arizona Rewrites Its Domestic Violence Custody Standard: What the Alec and Lydia Act Actually Changes
Arizona’s Alec and Lydia Act removes the old “significant domestic violence” threshold and replaces it with a broader, more structured custody standard. Here’s what HB2995 actually changes — and what remains unresolved.
Diagnosis as Evidence
In California family courts, a parent's psychiatric diagnosis can suffice as evidence of dangerousness for a domestic violence restraining order, even without corroboration. The law's low evidentiary standard allows subjective claims to influence serious…
The Force Multiplier
The family court system overlooks the specific needs of disabled children in custody disputes, failing to recognize how coercive control impacts their well-being. These children face heightened risks of abuse, and current legal reforms neglect their…
The Same Tools
The article explores how tactics used in controlling marriages transition to family court, impacting custody cases. It highlights four parents' experiences, demonstrating a structural failure of family courts to recognize coercive control patterns. The…
Before the Record, There Was a Marriage. This Is How It Ended — And How Everything That Followed Began.
The Still Here series documents a father's struggle to maintain a relationship with his son after a tumultuous marriage that ended with a protective order. It reveals a pattern of emotional abuse and systemic failures in recognizing male victims of…
What the Flowers Don’t Know
This Mother's Day, many parents silently endure the heartache of parental alienation, where children become estranged due to manipulation. Family courts often overlook or exacerbate this process, leaving targeted parents marginalized and powerless. The…
Silence as Strategy
The article discusses how selective silence in family court is often overlooked as a form of control. It emphasizes that this non-response blocks communication and coordination, creating power imbalances. Courts tend to trivialize silence, failing to…
The Friendly Parent Trap
The article discusses how the "friendly parent" rule in family courts can unintentionally harm those involved in high-conflict or abusive situations. While designed to promote cooperation, it often punishes protective behaviors, misinterpreting them as…