What Is Reunification Therapy?
Reunification therapy is a specific type of therapy that focuses on reuniting children with their estranged parents. The primary goal of reunification therapy is to re-establish the bond between the child and the parent. For example, if you were battling a substance abuse disorder and were unable to care for your child for a few years, you may need to go through reunification therapy in order to obtain custody of your child. Sometimes, the estrangement is out of the parent’s hands. For example, if your ex took the kids from you and didn’t let you see them, you may need reunification therapy to help your child heal from the trauma of being alienated. Whether the estrangement was due to the estranged parent’s fault, or it was completely out of the estranged parent’s control, reunification may still be necessary in order for the estranged parent to gain custody of the child or children.
How Do You Get the Process Started?
It depends on your circumstances. If you have been estranged from your child, you can begin working with an attorney to file for custody (if that hasn’t already been done), which could ultimately involve reunification therapy. If you already have a custody order in place, but your ex is not allowing you to see the children, you may need to work with an attorney to help ensure that the orders are being followed. Although reunification therapy is often a part of alienation cases—such as when one parent prevents the other parent from exercising their parent time—it’s typically only ordered when the children have become estranged from their parents. Therefore, reunification therapy might not be necessary if you’re able to stop the alienation earlier on. Alternatively, reunification can be voluntary. However, it’s often necessary that all parties are involved and actively participating. If you have an ex who is alienating your child, they may not want to participate in reunification therapy, and they may attempt (and be successful) in thwarting attempts at reunification therapy.
Do I Have to Do Reunification Therapy?
It depends on what’s happened. If your ex shows up out of the blue, demands custody, and demands reunification therapy, without a court order, no. However, if your ex does show up after having been estranged—regardless of why they were estranged—they are likely going to have some rights to the child, although they have to go to court to get said rights, especially if there was never a custody order in place to begin with. In the aforementioned scenario, the court would likely order reunification therapy, especially if the parent has been estranged for a while and the child does not really remember the estranged parent. If you are ordered to do reunification therapy by the court, you will have to follow the court order. Failure to do so may have serious consequences.
Can I Get Custody without Reunification Therapy?
It is possible to get custody without reunification therapy, especially if you weren’t estranged from your child for any significant amount of time. However, it should be noted that when it comes to young children, any time away from them may be significant. For example, if you go six months without seeing your three-month-old, they may forget who you are by the time they’re nine months old. In a case like this, you may need to be reintroduced to the parent (for example, the parent may gradually get more custody of your young child). But you may not necessarily need reunification therapy as the nine-month-old would not be able to participate in therapy. If you were estranged from your child for a significant amount of time, especially if they don’t remember you or have an aversion to you, you may need to complete reunification therapy before getting custody of the child, assuming the child is old enough for reunification therapy. If the child is not old enough to comprehend reunification therapy, and/or the child does not have an aversion toward the previously absent parent, the previously absent parent may be able to be gradually reintroduced into the child’s life. If you refuse to complete reunification therapy, you may not be able to get custody of your child, especially if the reunification therapy was ordered by the court.
Who Pays for Reunification Therapy?
It will depend on your court order. There is a chance that you may be expected to pay for the reunification therapy, especially if you were the cause of the estrangement. This is true even if you weren’t the parent who because estranged. If your child is estranged from their other parent because you alienated them from their other parent, you may be expected to pay for reunification therapy. Insurance may also be able to cover some of the costs associated with reunification therapy. If your ex was ordered to pay for reunification therapy, but is refusing to do so, you may be able to cover the cost yourself in order to stop the fighting. You would not be obligated to do that.
When You’re in a Custody Battle
If you’re fighting for custody, CoilLaw is here for you. Our attorneys are professionals when it comes to handling high-conflict divorces. Contact us today to schedule your initial consultation.
