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Abstract: 

Child custody expert Barry Goldstein and his colleague, Veronica York, narrate the chronology of an unusual case in which the court “got it right”: it issued rulings that protected the vulnerable parties—an abused mother and her children—while severing all contact with the abusive father, who lost his parental rights. While the features of this case were strikingly similar to so many others in which the outcomes are precisely the opposite, the main difference here was that the mother and her children were financially supported by family members who were able to hire competent attorneys. Unlike those cases that end up with bad outcomes for the vulnerable parties, in this instance, thankfully, the court recognized the serious potential harms that are inflicted upon children who are forced to endure Adverse Childhood Experiences through ongoing contact with an abusive parent.

Keywords: ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences); Parental Alienation Disorder; Meier Study; Kyra’s Law

Affiliations:  1: Author; 2: Family Law Mediator.