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.

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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 alienator. In 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.

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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!

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Blacklist and Smearing Protection 

When you are unable to pay debts, either because of lack of funds or otherwise, then you can expect to be blacklisted. This term is denoted ‘bad credit’ because of the inability to repay monies owed over an adversely long period of time. However, the new act prevents there from being recorded credit history once a party has paid back all monies due. This is good news for consumers that have been blacklisted in the past, bad news for creditors who have no way of checking credit-worthiness.

Clearance 

Debtors have gone to great lengths in order to obtain credit clearance. In order to get clearance an individual had to have zero outstanding debt, even that of a long-term mortgage. Now clearance can be obtained if your only outstanding debt is that of a mortgage. In this case, threats against the individual concerning “credit history” and clearance no longer apply.

Affordability Assessment Regulations

The NCA has put in place a set of regulations that disallows creditors from giving credit to those who cannot afford to pay back monies owed over the regulated time. A creditor can choose to extend credit and implement agreements only if they fall within the boundaries set by the Affordability Assessment Regulations.

Delivery Of Notice

A court notice concerning the debt owed by an individual or organisation must be delivered to the person directly, and notice will require a signature for proof of delivery purposes. This will stop debtors from being taken to court and/or being blacklisted without having prior knowledge of notice.

All of the following amendments have been put in place to further protect the debtor from abusive credit providers. However, these  amendments also mean that creditors who stay within regulation, and carry out the appropriate methods of granting credit, have improved stead when it comes to being considered good credit providers.

Make sure that you know your rights concerning debt/credit and the debt collection process. For more information on debt collection and/or defended actions, contact Ivan Zartz Attorneys.

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Garnishee Orders

Ivan Zartz Attorneys respects the garnishee orders that protect both parties in a debt agreement, but other attorneys sometimes bypass regulation so that they may abuse debtors in order to collect on debt before the specified time or otherwise when the debtor is completely unable to repay their debt. The garnishee order and the rights of the debtor and creditor are explicitly laid out in the National Credit Act. The practice of debt collection in South Africa is rife with cases of abuse and debt collection practice that is otherwise deemed unnecessary.

Illegal Debt Collection

Those that are abused by such practices are not the individuals or organisations that Ivan Zartz Attorneys follows up on as we deal in cases of debt collection amounting to over R100 000. Those that are affected by fraudulent debt collection are the poorer and less informed members of our society.

These people are often victims to numerous kinds of debt collection abuses. A common theme in South Africa is the use of physical force or verbal threat in order to collect owed monies. A more underhanded approach to debt collection is the fraudulent tampering of official documents such as the garnishee order. These documents are brought to the debtor to force them to issue their debts. At other times these fraudulent documents are brought into court and are actually considered by some officials in the jurisdiction. Fraudulent attorneys will also attempt to smear the debtor by labeling them as not being creditworthy.

At Ivan Zartz we encourage these debtors to retain important documents regarding their debt payment schemes and report any illegal uses of force, smearing or intimidation. Our practice relies on legal and agreeable approaches to collect monies owed by those parties (often businesses and organisations) that owe extreme amounts of money to smaller creditors. Contact Ivan Zartz Attorneys to find out more.

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The only point at which a child custody order will automatically change is when the child reaches adulthood. By the age of 18 a child has his/her own right to where he/she lives, as well as how much contact they want with either guardian. However, this may not necessarily change maintenance orders. A child custody order will often state the maintenance schedule after the child has turned 18, and maintenance often needs to be paid for those children who are studying, where this may be proven to the court, for a set duration.

Some guardians, like those sharing custody of a child, may believe after some time that certain changes can be made. A daughter,aged 15, whose custody is shared by both mother and father, wants to live with her mother only. She also wants occasional weekend visitation with her father. Although she may be mature enough to expect such changes (changes which her mother condones), the mother is still required to submit these changes to court, or through a legal out-of-court settlement with the father.

It is important that guardians do not believe in the myth of court order expiry unless it is stipulated within the court order agreement. In any event, if a guardian believes that there has been a change in situation, and thee child custody agreement no longer stands, then that guardian can be held in contempt of court if he/she has gone against regulation.

When in contempt of court a guardian can suffer a number of legal repercussions. These include having guardianship suspended or terminated, or having important decisions taken away from the guardian. A guardian may be expected to pay a fine, or may be required to forfeit visitation time. In extreme circumstances, a guardian may be arrested.

Make sure that you understand all the rules and regulations concerning child custody. Contact Ivan Zartz today.

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Changes to lawfully imposed agreements are commonplace in South Africa, and the answer is yes, changes can be made in front of a judge if so desired. Child custody agreements are often changed by a child’s/children’s parents and guardians. These changes can be both all-encompassing or small adjustments.

Changes can be made in much the same way that child custody settlement agreements are made. Parents and/or guardians can reach an out-of-court agreement that is adjudicated by attorneys and lawyers that are able to submit the changes to the court. Again, decisions are made in the best interest of the child. If the changes affect the child negatively then such changes will not be accepted by the South African Family Court. It is important to keep in mind that the court is unlikely to agree to the change of residency from one guardian to another without sufficient reason to do so.

An example of an out-of-court agreement could be that of an adjustment to visitation rights. A father, whose very young child stays in Johannesburg with his mother, works in Durban and requires supervision when visiting with the infant because he is unfamiliar with the routine of looking after a baby. However, after some time, he starts to live and work in Johannesburg, and both parents agree that he should be allowed reasonable contact with the youngster. An attorney can draft a change that will be accepted by the family court judge.

Unfortunately, there are times when one or both guardians/parents want to enforce contradictory changes. When this happens the process is much like an overall settlement agreement within court. Through the assistance of attorneys, disputed changes and amendments are filed with the court before a hearing takes place. Remember that a judge will likely place his/her decision within the best interests of the child.

An example of a disputed change can be when one parent or guardian or associate of the child believes that the child’s guardian or contact is no longer fit to uphold the current arrangements. A young child’s father, who has visitation rights with the child, is suspected of using drugs when in contact with the child over a weekend. The mother, who is the primary guardian, can submit changes to the custody agreement through her attorney. A court hearing will take place where the father can challenge the change. In these circumstances it is essential for the mother to present evidence and/or witnesses that can provide proof for the allegations.

For more information on changes to agreements, and other child custody questions, contact Ivan Zartz.

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With the guiding assistance of an attorney, parents may reach a settlement agreement with each other. This agreement can be done informally and may cover all areas of child custody, which would include visitation rights and maintenance. Some parents will choose to be represented at the settlement agreement meetings by an attorney who will first and foremost consider the best interests of the child/children, and then that of their client. The settlement agreement will be a written agreement so that it may stand in good stead legally.

The main reason as to why parents would want to make a settlement agreement out-of-court would be to avoid the stress and emotional trauma. Neither the parents nor the children would have to discuss their family environment in front of a judge and his/her officials. A settlement agreement is also a lot less expensive. The written agreement is then presented to the family judge for their approval and signature.

Having agreed on an out-of-court settlement the parents or carers are also more likely to follow an agreed parenting plan. A successful custody agreement means that parents will consider each other’s visitations schedules and maintenance responsibilities. If you intend on peaceful and amicable settlement with your spouse or family member over the custody of your child, make sure to contact our team of experienced attorneys at Ivan Zartz.

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A senior judge has warned of a surrogacy “ticking time bomb” in the UK, with large numbers of parents failing to obtain legal permission to take care of their new children.

Mrs Justice Theis said that there were up to 2,000 babies born to British or overseas surrogate mothers each year on behalf of couples here, but only “a few hundred” obtain the parental order that they need to ensure that the child is legally theirs.

If a parental order is not obtained the child remains the responsibility of the surrogate mother.

“There are a very limited number of parental orders which come to court each year. My concern is not for the people seeking parental orders but for those who are not making applications. It is a ticking legal time bomb,” she said.

“If no steps are taken to regularise the legal relationship between the intended parents and the child by way of an application to the court, the surrogate remains the child’s legal mother and retains the child’s legal mother and retains parental responsibility.” She said she was also concerned about the psychological impact on children who discovered that their “settled” family situation was in fact legally vulnerable.

She predicted particular problems in the event of the death of one parent, separation and divorce, or when the child’s passport needed to be renewed. In the absence of a parental order, the child would be entitled to a claim on the estate of its surrogate mother, she said.

The number of surrogacy arrangements is rising STEADILY IN Britain, with 95 per cent now being born overseas.

Mrs. Justice Theis, one of three High Court judges who hears applications for surrogacy parental orders. She was speaking at a symposium on international surrogacy organised by the International Association of Matrimonial Lawyers in London.

She recently ruled in the controversial British case of a couple in their 60’s who had twins born twins born to a surrogate in Ukraine. The surrogate mother disappeared during the conflict with Russia and the couple were unable to prove that she was really willing to give up her babies. Mrs. Justice Theis ruled that the couple should keep the babies.

Fiona Kendall, a solicitor at Clarion, a law firm in Leeds, said that agencies should explain the legal steps to their clients. “It would help if fertility clinics made clear this was something that was part of the process,” she said.

Cafcass, The children’s legal service, said that it dealt with only 241 parental order applications last year, a fraction of the children born to surrogates for UK couples. Currently only couples married, civil partners or in long term relationships can have a surrogate child. Mrs Justice Theis said that she would shortly be hearing an application for a parental order from a single woman, a test case for the law.

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1. All factors set out in the Act together with documentary proof where applicable. The affidavit should contain the information on how the commissioning parents came to know the surrogate mother and why she is willing to act as a surrogate for them. The surrogate mother’s background as well as her financial position should be investigated and set out in the affidavit. Furthermore a comprehensive report by psychologist is essential to assess the suitability of the surrogate mother. This should deal in particular with her background, psychological profile and the effect that the surrogacy and the giving up of the baby will have on her. Full medical reports should also be obtained regarding her physical condition to indicate whether surrogacy pose any dangers for her and/or the child. In our view the medical report should deal with the HIV status of the mother, as well as any disease that could be transferred from her to the child in order to protect the child and to allow the court to exercise its discretion properly in confirming the agreement.

2. Whether there have been any previous applications for surrogacy; the division in which the application was brought, whether such an application was granted and/or refused. If it was refused the reasons for the refusal should be set out;

3. A report by a clinical psychologist in respect of the commissioning parents and a separate report in respect of the surrogate and her partner;

4. A medical report regarding the surrogate mother which must include her physical condition to indicate whether surrogacy pose any dangers for her and/or the child. In our view the medical report should deal with the HIV status of the mother, as well as any disease that could be transferred from her to the child in order to protect the child and to allow the court to exercise its discretion properly in confirming the agreement;

5. Details and proof of payment of any compensation for services rendered, either to the surrogate herself or to the intermediary, the donor, the clinic or any third party involved in the process;

6. All agreements between the surrogate and any intermediary or any other person who is involved in the process;

7. Full particulars, if any agency was involved, any payment to such agency as well as an affidavit by that agency containing the full particulars regarding that agency should be revealed. An affidavit by the agency should also be filed containing the following:

(a) the business of the agency,

(b)  whether any form of payment is paid to or by the agency in regard of any aspect of the surrogacy,

(c) what exactly the agency’s involvement was regarding the:
(i) introduction of the surrogate mother,
(ii) how the information regarding the surrogate mother was obtained by the agency and

(d) whether the surrogate mother received any compensation at all from the agency or the commissioning parents.

8. Whether any of the commissioning parents have been charged with or convicted with a violent crime or a crime of a sexual nature

9. A clearance certificate by the police of the commissioning parents.

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