What to do if my husband and I, as well as others, suspect that his daughter's other guardian is on drugs again?
Question Details: We have lots of verbal and written proof from the past week. She visits her other guardian, who has joint custody of her, in 2 weeks but we don't want her to visit. Can we pull her away until we take the other guardian to court and/or get him drug tested? We are scared for her well being.
In my professional experience as a family law attorney, it is not uncommon that I am phoned regarding a legal problem that is of an emergency nature. Drug use, chemical dependency, alcohol use are certainly issues of an emergency nature. Oftentimes one or more mental health issues are involved in the emerging problem as well. Certainly I advise you to seek legal counsel immediately to discuss the situation in great detail: What action is best to take depends on all of the particulars of the problem. Sometimes people, on their own, may choose paths of action that are unwise or imprudent for the situation, and sometimes people take actions that serve to reflect negatively on them. I urge you to phone several family law attorneys in choosing the attorney to help you because it is critically important that you feel a sense of great trust. I suggest you seek out an attorney familiar with chemical dependency and mental health issues. Your situation may be such that you want to choose an attorney who promises to stay quite available to you, even seven days of the week, during the time that a crisis situation is unfolding in your life. I note that anyone who fears that another person is in imminent danger of physical harm should immediately phone 911.
If your daughter is in immediate danger, contact the local authorities. Otherwise, contact your local child protection office, inform them of the situation, and see what they plan to do to investigate. Base you next course of action on what child protection decides.
