29 Jul

Minimum Consultation Fee of R1500!

It has come to our understanding that many potential clients call or contact us through our online portal expecting help from Ivan Zartz Attorneys without understanding the consultation requirements.

A standing minimal fee of R1500 is required for a consultation at our offices. We DO NOT provide free telephone consultations either. Telephone consultations may be made, but they will be charged accordingly.

Many clients question the charge and label it as exorbitant, but what exactly are you paying for at Ivan Zartz Attorneys?  Ivan Zartz is an industry-leading attorney, with many years of experience. His focus within matters of child custody, dispute resolution, divorce, surrogacy, debt collection and insolvency mean that his advice and council is highly regarded and well-sought. Ivan Zartz is virtually a household name in legal circles within South Africa.

You will also be paying for the services of Ivan Zartz Attorneys’ highly-capable and accomplished team. It is this team of bright and young individuals that allows Ivan Zartz to execute such quick turnaround times regarding clients’ needs. The administration team also helps ensure prompt communication with clients so that Ivan Zartz and his attorneys can continue to achieve desired results.

Please make sure that you are able to pay the required R1500 consultation fee the next time you make an inquiry toward consultation. Not only will you be saving us crucial time during office-hours, but you will be saving yourself the trouble too.

For any additional information regarding matters of child custody and/or debt collection, or if you require a debt collection attorney/child custody attorney within South Africa, contact Ivan Zartz Attorneys today!

 

27 Jul

Why Parent’s Fall Victim To PAS

Here at Ivan Zartz Attorneys we have been discussing Parental Alienation Syndrome: what is it? What occurs during cases of PAS? What parent is most likely to initiate derision and alienation between parent and child?

What we have been able to establish through previous posts is the following: PAS is the condition whereby a parent brainwashes a child/children in order for the child/children to denigrate the other parent. This occurs very often, and usually in cases of separated or divorced couples, as well as couples going through a case of child custody.

Today we ask this: why do parent’s brainwash their children and therefore bring about the causes of of a situation that is archetypal of PAS? I believe that PAS parents have become stuck in the first stage of child development, where survival skills are learned.

To them, having total control over their child is a life and death matter. Because they don’t understand how to please other people, any effort to do so always has strings attached. They don’t give; they only know how to take. They don’t play by the rules and are not likely to obey a court order.

Descriptions that are commonly used to describe severe cases of PAS are that the alienating parent is unable to “individuate” (a psychological term used when the person is unable to see the child as a separate human being from him or herself). They are often described as being “overly involved with the child” or “enmeshed”.

The parent may be diagnosed as narcissistic (self-centred), where they presume that they have a special entitlement to whatever they want. They think that there are rules in life, but only for other people, not for them.

Also, they may be called a sociopath, which means a person who has no moral conscience. These are people who are unable to have empathy or compassion for others. They are unable to see a situation from another person’s point of view, especially their child’s point of view. They don’t distinguish between telling the truth and lying in the way that others do.

In spite of admonitions from judges and mental health professionals to stop their alienation, they can’t. The prognosis for severely alienating parents is very poor. It is unlikely that they are able to “get it.” It is also unlikely that they will ever stop trying to perpetuate the alienation. This is a gut wrenching survival issue to them.

Now that we know how perpetrators of PAS operate, what are the legal resolutions for the problem of PAS? Further to R.A. Garners book an article written by Jayne A Major entitled “Parents who have successfully fought Parental Alienation Syndrome” Judges have been slow to place serious sanctions on the alienating parent.

If there is no threat of severe fines, jail time or sole custody to the targeted parent, the chances are remote that the out-of-control parent can be stopped. It usually takes a dramatic situation where court orders are broken to force the court to change primary custody. Often it is only a matter of time before alienating parents become desperate and their unstable mental health gets the better of them. People in an official position start to recognize the alienating parent as being out of line, and become supportive of the targeted parent in cases of child custody and divorce settlements.

If you require a child custody attorney, or you are interested in settling a child custody case, please contact Ivan Zartz Attorneys as soon as possible. Please remember that a minimum consultation fee of R1500 is required for an appointment.

 

22 Jul

What Is Parental Alienation Syndrome?

Parental Alienation Syndrome, or PAS, as discussed in an earlier post, is the brainwashing of a child by one of his/her parents to denigrate the other parent. This often happens in child custody disputes, or during cases of divorce.

To understand PAS it is important to discern the child’s role in the disorder that affects the whole family.

Gardner notes that the PAS is more than brainwashing or programming, because the child has to actually participate in the denigrating of the alienated parent. This is done in primarily the following eight ways: The child denigrates the alienated parent with foul language and severe oppositional behaviour. The child offers weak, absurd, or frivolous reasons for his or her anger. The child is sure of himself or herself and doesn’t demonstrate ambivalence, i.e. love and hate for the alienated parent, only hate. The child exhorts that he or she alone came up with ideas of denigration.

The “independent-thinker” phenomenon is where the child asserts that no one told him to do this. The child supports and feels a need to protect the alienating parent. The child does not demonstrate guilt over cruelty towards the alienated parent. The child uses borrowed scenarios, or vividly describes situations that he or she could not have experienced. Animosity is spread to the friends and/or extended family of the alienated parent. In severe cases of parent alienation, the child is utterly brain- washed against the alienated parent. The alienator can truthfully say that the child doesn’t want to spend any time with this parent, even though he or she has told him that he has to, it is a court order, etc. The alienator typically responds, “There isn’t anything that I can do about it. I’m not telling him that he can’t see you.”

Gardner’s statistics showed that the majority of PAS occurrences were initiated by mothers. Mothers have traditionally had primary custody of children (although before the 20th century it normally belonged to the father), and the mothers usually spend more time with the children. 

In order for a campaign of alienation to occur, one parent needs to have considerable time with the child. However, in recent years increasing numbers of fathers have started instigating PAS, since there are few legal sanctions for doing so.

I’ve seen several dramatic child custody cases where the father was the alienatorIn one case, the father had no control over his obsession to trash the mother. Numerous professionals told him, including the mother, that he could have shared custody if he would be willing to follow the rules. He didn’t have the self-control to do this.

When he lost child custody because of his aberrant behaviour, he became a celebrity in the father’s rights movement and took his campaign into national circles. No one would know from hearing him speak about his situation that there was serious pathology going on (PAS) or how hard the professionals worked to stabilize it.

It is important that those involved in child custody cases and divorce settlements that they recognize if there is evidence that may be regarded as features of PAS.

If you require an attorney to help you settle a case of child custody then contact Ivan Zartz Attorneys today. Ivan Zartz Attorneys also specialize in matters involving surrogacy, debt collection, insolvency, sectional titles and dispute resolutions.

20 Jul

Parental Alienation Syndrome

Having been involved in many child custody disputes for two decades, including my own custody battle, I noticed that there was a trend in the frequency of a disorder rarely observed before, that of programming or brain washing a child by one parent to denigrate another parent.

In my practice at present, I have successfully had a children return from England by a mother who without the father’s consent had poisoned the children’s minds to such an extent that she took the children to England and blamed the father for the removal – the mother was discredited and the children were returned to South Africa. The disorder is not only confined to brainwashing by a parent but creating support by the children of the alienating parent’s campaign against the targeted parent.

In another child custody case, a client of mine was accused by his wife whom he was divorcing of playing with a three year old’s penis in the bath tub. Psychologists were subpoenaed on both sides and after a three day trial, the court found that the wife had deliberately frustrated my client’s access and that the court was not convinced with her story or the findings of her psychologist.

On the other hand there are many instances where the cause of the alienation is the alienated parent and not the other party. In a leading child custody case dealing with child alienation the matter dealt with an adolescent child who approached the court for a variation of a custody order. The court assigned a legal representative in terms of s 28(1)(h) stressing that “a child in civil proceedings may, where substantial injustice would otherwise result, be given a voice.” The Judge obtained a report from the family advocate to assist her in deciding whether child custody should be awarded to the father of the child. Evidence showed that the father had instructed the child to be obstructive making the child feel as though he had to favour a certain parent. The psychologists were of the opinion that the child had made his decision due to duress or undue influence. It was held that the father was found to be a manipulative obsessive man and that it would not be in the best interest of the child to award him with sole child custody. The court went accordingly against the wishes of the child.

Therefore, on account of these tragic cases and frequency of this disorder that I have seen in my practice, I thought I would research the concept of Parental Alienation Syndrome (P.A.S) and give readers of my website a little insight into this disorder. The next blog, posted on Wednesday 22nd July will ask the question “What is Parental Alienation Syndrome?” Read it to find out more.

If you require an attorney to assist you in your child custody case do not hesitate. Contact Ivan Zartz Attorneys today!

 

15 Jul

Ivan Zartz’s Shock Treatment

They say that ‘it’s not what you know, but who you know’. This common cliche can be applied anywhere and to any facet of our lives. In the commercial sense it means that the connections we have often affects our levels of success. For those of us who rely on the income of providing a particular product or service, we also rely on our existing portfolio of clients.

What if, however, one of those clients owed you a large sum of money? Would you continue believing their claim that they do not have the funds to be able to fulfill the demands on the invoice? Furthermore, do you have the time and money to request a summons, and stand the lengthy court sessions before being paid your money due to you?  Can you take the risk that, yes, your client has declared bankruptcy and now you must form part of the long list of creditors that hope to be paid at least a portion of the money lost?  At Ivan Zartz Attorneys we have a foolproof way of getting your monies due; our debt collection process involves a liquidation application!

As stated, many people and businesses consider their relationship with their client as being greater than the monies due, and cannot afford to alienate them. By applying for company liquidation on behalf of the non-paying client, the ‘shock‘ factor will often result in a souring of relations. However, if a fallout between the parties is of no concern to the creditor then we urge them to call on Ivan Zartz Attorneys as soon as possible so that we may pursue the process of liquidation application and ensure your debt collection.

It is interesting to note that those companies served with liquidation somehow find the money that they owe in very short period of time.

Remember: We only help those clients who are owed debt to the value of R80 000 and more. Contact Ivan Zartz Attorneys to find out additional information. Because it’s not what you know, its who you know…