Legal Question in Family Law in Kentucky

If your daughter is 18, she is not longer a child; she has reached the age of majority. A petition for an Emergency Custody Order and a complaint for dependency, neglect or abuse under KRS Sect 610.010 is limited to children. That is not to say that a Cabinet social worker won't try it, but the law does not support it.

What is in the control of the social worker is the finding she enters in their computer database as to whether neglect occurred on the part of your wife. If that has already been entered as unsubstantiated, then her changing the result would be opening herself to a lawsuit because it would be wrong. However, if the investigation remains open, then your wife should pursue forcing them to complete it before the DVO is changed. By policy, they have a limited amount of time in which to complete an investigation. This used to be 45 days, and may still be set at that limit, but they often go past it.