Abstract
Family estrangement arising from high-conflict family disputes is most often examined through the competing rights and conduct of adults, particularly within custody and visitation litigation. This adult-centered framing obscures the developmental, psychological, and relational consequences experienced by children who lose meaningful relationships with parents or extended family members. This article presents a case-based analytical study of family estrangement through a child-centered lens, integrating legal doctrine with established psychological research. It examines how family law systems, despite formal reliance on the ?best interests of the child? standard, frequently marginalize children?s perspectives through procedural design, constitutional deference to parental autonomy, and inconsistent mechanisms for child representation. Particular attention is given to parental alienation as a mechanism of emotional harm, the developmental significance of disrupted attachment and identity formation, and the legal consequences of treating children?s silence as neutrality or consent. Comparative analysis of selected international frameworks highlights alternative institutional approaches to child participation and representation without advocating specific reforms. The article argues that family estrangement constitutes a sustained developmental risk for children that is insufficiently addressed within existing legal structures. By reframing estrangement as a condition affecting children directly rather than as a collateral effect of adult conflict, the article underscores the need for greater coherence between legal decision-making processes and the psychological realities of children whose lives are shaped by enforced relational loss.
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