Legal Question in Family Law in Ohio

Hello,
In October of 2009 my Father N Law had cheated on my Mother N Law. ( Inside the same house). My Mother N Law has MS so she is unable in most cases to help herself. So mind you, while she is in one bedroom, he's in the other. On another note, he had neglected her, (meaning he did not give her pills to her on multiple occasions, wouldn't feed her dinner (because she is unable to cook, or feed herself) on multiple occasions. He would cut/rip her clothes off of her because he didn't want to take the time to undress her properly. Now with all this in mind he had told her that he wanted a divorce and that he wanted her gone that he didn't love her anymore. So My husband and I took her into our home for 6 months, and in March 2010 she was put in to a rehabilitation facility temporarly until she was able to be put into assisted living because with both my husband and myself working full time jobs, it was way too hard to take care of her full time also. So 6 months after she leaves him and after no contact at all, he somehow found her in the rahab facility and visited her multiple times (acting nice) and called multiple time being nice. She then told him she didn't want him coming around anymore, and he said that's fine. He said he was going to sue my husband and I for everything we have and that we are going to be sorry. I was there one time when he came to visit and we had a slight arguement, I told him to leave, and he wouldn't leave until my Mother N Law finally told him to leave and he listened to her, we exchanged a few foul words and that was that... So now my question is, can he sue for what he is calling "Emotional Suffering" because we took her out of the home and with us, because that's what they both wanted. He says he will sue for everything we have..Well we don't own our cars (2) we are still paying on both of them, and we rent our home. So what exactly could he even sue us for? Since she has left him, he says he has had 2 heart attacks and we are the reason. But how can we be the reason when there was absolutely no contact with him from any of us within the last 6 months until this point in time right now? He does drugs, he has a suspended license he is driving on and no car insurance. Can we use all these things against him? I'm hoping someone can give me a little bit of advice. Any at all could help.. Thank You So Much

Asked on 4/10/10, 12:43 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Jerry Goodwin Jerry A. Goodwin, LPA

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If your mother in law is physically able to conduct her own affairs then she can tell your father in law anything she wishes, You have no legal liability for helping her. if, on the other hand, your father in law goes to Probate Court to gain a guardianship over her, then he can control who she sees and what she spends. If he should try that, you should oppose it. He would need a great deal of proof that she is incapable of living on her own. From your question, I doubt that he does

There is no law allowing recpvery of money for "emotiomal suffering". There is a law that forbids "intentional infliction of emotional distress", but it is almost never used because the party wishing to use it must offer psychological proof by an expert and there usually must be an accompanying physical injury.

The thing to remember is that as long as your mother in law is capable of handling her own affairs, she is in charge of her relationship with her husband. She can seek a number of remedies such as a Civil Protective Order that will keep him away. The choice is hers

Jerry Goodwin

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Answered on 4/15/10, 3:15 pm

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