Legal Question in Family Law in Connecticut

Mental stability of a daughter.

I need to know what legal rights I may have as a father, to establish medical/mental health treatment for my daughter who refuses to seek help on her own, and is legally over the age of 18. My daughter is 30 years old, lives out on her own (barely), and suffers from depession and anxiety, and now is at the point of not taking care of her physical body hygiene wise or nutritionally (anorexia). Most in-patient and out- patient treatment facilities I have contacted require her to come in on her own which she refuses to do. The only option I have left in helping her is to legally force treatment against her will, which is the information I am looking for from this forum. It has been very difficult securing the much needed help my daughter requires to get healthy, with her legal age status. Hope I can get pointed in the right direction....thanks for your time.


Asked on 2/16/05, 12:59 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Heffernan Heffernan Legal Group, LLP

Re: Mental stability of a daughter.

You'd have to be appointed her conservator by the Probate Court having jurisdiction in the town where she lives. Sounds simple, but in order to become conservator, the court must find that she's incompetent to handle her own affairs, either financially or personally (medically), or both. In order to do that, the court needs the testimony of an M.D. who has examined her within 30 days of the court hearing. Sometimes the best you can do is wait for her to get hospitalized and then have the Doctors temporarily commit her for observation and a Probate hearing. The system is reactive, not pro-active.

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Answered on 2/16/05, 2:54 pm


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