Plano Divorce Lawyers Blog

The Plano-based Family Law firm of Easley & Marquis is committed to making sure that children from divorced families have relationships with both parents. When a new client with a Child Custody matter comes to Easley & Marquis, the case is usually referred to Sharon Easley, who immediately begins to assess the case for evidence of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS). When evidence of PAS is present, Sharon knows that the "fight" to insure that her client has the opportunity to have a quality relationship with his or her children, after divorce, will be very tough and require very specialized treatment in order to succeed. The following is an example of one such case in which Easley & Marquis succeeded in stopping a mother from alienating her children from their father, who was ultimately awarded custody of both of his children by a Family Court judge in McKinney, Texas.

The case came to Easley & Marquis when a father, who lived in Wisconsin, was contacted by Child Protective Services (CPS) in Plano, Texas, and told that his children's living environment was being investigated and that they might be removed from their home, which was also in Plano, and placed in foster care somewhere in Texas. Child Protective Services had become involved when the older child, a boy about 12 years of age at the time, called to report that his mother and step-parents were fighting and that the fight had become physical. The other child, a girl, was only 11 years old.

The history of the case is that the parents were divorced in another state and the mother, who had primary custody of the children, had moved to Plano, Texas, a few years before the Plano Law Firm was contacted. The mother was remarried and had another child by that marriage. After she moved to Plano, the father moved where he could find employment, which was not in Texas.

The father and mother did not get along and the father had experienced a great deal of difficulty seeing his children after their move to Plano. He was frequently told by the mother that the children did not want to go see him, she would tell him they had other plans and she would not make let him talk to them on the phone. The father learned during the case in Texas that the mother had also told the children many bad things about him, such as that he abused alcohol, that he was physically and mentally abusive and that he did not love his children. Alienating parents frequently say bad things about the other parent to their children, even if untrue.

After a very long process that included a custody evaluation, the father was awarded primary custody of the children. That was not the end of the story, however, and was not the end of the mother's efforts to alienate the children from the father. For several months, she consistently e-mailed and called the children, making very negative and derogatory statements about their father. He became suspicious and recorded some of the calls and was successful in downloading some of the e-mails. (Before deciding to record telephone calls between your child and another person, you should read articles on illegal wiretapping and consult with an attorney.) In this case, the father had a "good faith" belief that he needed to record the calls. In one of the recordings, the mother advised the children to turn the air conditioning temperature down so the father would get mad at them and send them back to Texas. There was another trial at which the father asked that the mother be punished for her bad behavior. The judge met with the children, who told them they wanted to live with their mother in Texas, and listened to all the evidence of what the mother had been doing, including listening to the recorded telephone conversations.

After that trial, the judge suspended all contact with the mother for 90 days so that the father and the children could have an opportunity to bond. He told the father, however, that if the children still wanted to live in Texas with their mother, he would allow them to return at the end of the 90-day period. After the 90 days, the children changed their minds and said they wanted to stay with their father. The mother would not give up and yet a third trial occurred, following which the children were allowed to stay with their father. They are now living happily with their father, who allows them to see their mother whenever they want to see her.