South Carolina John R. Ferguson P.O. Box 286 Laurens, SC 29360 Phone: (864) 984-2126 E-mail: Jferg@backroads.net John has been in practice for 27 years and has extensive experience handling Family Court cases. Q. If you had a client that had a Psychological Evaluation done and all the evidence pointed to the strongest proof of PAS, would you tell the Judge you have a clear cut case of PAS or would you be more inclined to refer to Parental Alienation and just talk about the symptoms ? Either way I would like to know why you would go with that particular legal strategy. A. I would be more inclined to talk about parental alienation, because I think that would have more traction with a S.C. judge. Q. A lot of parents that are fighting cases involving Parental Alienation Syndrome would like to know what's the specific statute that concerns a reversal of custody. Can you copy and paste the exact state statute and tell us what special circumstances need to exist in order to persuade a Judge? A. Custody is based upon the judge's ascertainment of the best interests of the child. He has broad power to decide this. Q. If you had a client that was the primary residential parent and the client refused to allow visitation because they believed the non-custodial parent was a danger what would you do as the attorney? A. If there was no visitation order, I would allow the other side to bring the matter to court unless the client felt the need for a restraining order. The magistrates court might be able to provide faster relief to keep the other spouse away. If there was a visitation order, I would seek a hearing to modify it. The reasonableness of the risk and the client's ability to produce some proof of it would affect how I would proceed. Q. If you have a client that wants to get a psychological evaluation to determine custody issues how do you pick the doctor to do the evaluation, or do you let the court make that decision and what if the client wanted to pick their own doctor to do the psychological evaluation, how could you help a client to accomplish that task? A. I would pick a doctor based upon experience, expertise and ability to communicate with children of the age in question. I would not have a problem with the client participating in the selection process, but it is important that I be involved in the process to avoid a situation in which the client is accused of employing a "ringer". If time is not an issue, it might be better to let the judge choose the evaluator to ensure that he would give greater weight to the results and not be concerned about a "ringer" accusation. Q. What happens when two parents disagree on the selection of a doctor for therapy for their child? A. I would let the guardian ad litem have the final say. Failing that a judge (who would not be happy about being involved) would have to make the selection. Q. What is your experience with parental alienators and their level of cooperation in following the court orders? A. Parental alienators tend not to have good insight into what they are doing. They tend to justify their actions as protecting the child or otherwise being in the child's best interests. They have a lot of anger issues against the spouse and use those to justify what they are doing. The level of cooperation depends upon the rationality of the parent and the parent's assessment of the risk of non-cooperation with the court order. Involvement of that parent's attorney is crucial to avoiding show downs. Q. Being in court before a judge many times, do you know how a judge will normally rule on an issue and do you advise your client of this predictable information? A. Although I try to provide some guidance on this issue, judges are not always predictable; and clients have a tendency to take a prediction of success as a guarantee. I prefer to concentrate on the pros and cons and how we can strengthen our pros and limit our cons. Q. If a lawyer is friends with a medical expert witness, like a Psychologist, is it a conflict of interest to refer that doctor to do work for his or her client? A. Mere friendship is not a disqualifier unless it rises to the level of interfering with the expert's impartial expert opinion. Q. What does the court mean by "Reunification with a parent" and how does the court do it? A. Courts try to nurture a good parental relationship with the child by both parents. This is accomplished by isolating the children from parental warfare and restraining the parents from using the children as pawns in that warfare. Both attorneys have a duty to keep the children out of it and make their clients to be reasonable for the sake of the children. A parent who is damaging the child's best interests by trying to destroy the child's relationship with the other parent should not be awarded custody or should have custody taken away. Q. What is the strongest penalty a judge can impose on a parent that obstructs visitation (short of a change in custody)? A. 6 months in jail for contempt of court if a visitation order is being violated (more if transferred to criminal court for a jury trial). There is also civil contempt. Q. What would you advise a client to do, if you know that the other parent is going to try and block or obstruct their visitation rights – what would you tell them to do to prove it to the judge? A. Avoid breaches of the peace. Have a reliable witness to all contacts with the spouse, haved client make notes of all spousal interactions, get the Guardian ad Litem involved, let client write the other spouse to protest the obstruction (keeping a copy) and hope for a written response. Q. Does a lawyer have the expertise to advise a client how to deal with a parental alienator and if so, what advise does an attorney offer ? A. I do not let my clients engage in such behavior. If the other spouse is doing it, I get opposing counsel and the GAL involved to head it off. If that does not work, I try to get proof (affidavits) and head into court to get the judge to handle it. Neutral witnesses (e.g., teachers and clergy) can be especially valuable. You do not need expert expertise to establish that the attempted destruction by one parent of the child's relationship of the other parent is harmful. Q. If a client cannot afford a psychological evaluation what advise would you give them to help them in the custody dispute? A. Line up respectable witnesses to support your side of the custody dispute, what the other parent is doing and how the child is being affected. Teachers and others with a close relationship with the child can testify about how the case is affecting the child. Back to Legal Opinions Directory