Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia
Hello, I have a sister who's in a world wind of trouble right now. To begin with, she's been in an abusive relationship for several years and she has two young girls by the abuser. They live together. She works and he doesn't. Secondly, she's on short-term leave from her job because she's been dealing with harassment and alleged stalking from co-workers. Thirdly, she was attending sessions with a psychiatrist who prescribed her pills for ADHG. A few months ago, she attempted suicide by taking the pills. However, the psychiatrist still allowed the prescription. On top of that, she smokes marijuana and drinks alcohol. She lives in a rough neighborhood and believes everyone is out to get her. She thinks people from her job are hacking into her information and following her because there may be illegal activity happening on the job. She feels she can't go to the cops, so all she can do is call my mother and cry. Her boyfriend makes the situation worse with all the emotional and physical abuse. I truly believe she's having a nervous breakdown. My mother and I want to help, but we have no idea what to do because she's a grown woman, they're kids involved, her boyfriend may have ties to gangs, and the alleged people who are following her could follow us. If we put her away in rehab or psych ward, then her boyfriend will have custody of the kids and we all fear he will put them through misery. Something has to be done. What can we do?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Unfortunately, I don't see any clear cut legal issues in your sister's situation as described above which are likely to be amenable to any remedies offered by the law and the services of an attorney (at least at this time).
Furthermore, the expertise of one or more mental health professionals would appear to be more appropriate to the various issues described in this inquiry than anything that might be successfully dealt with by an attorney & counsellor at law (in my opinion).