Yes - it is that bad. Our daughter is 40 years old and dying of stage 4 metastasized breast cancer that is now 8 tumors in her brain, lung cancer, liver cancer and bone cancer. She lived in Asheville NC with her husband and 12 year old daughter until she was hospitalized for 11 days for an infection in her lungs. Members of the family (including my husband and I) made the trip to support her and her family. While we were there, her husband made no effort to help her or support her (or any of us) and told us that when she was released from the hospital, he wouldn’t be able to take care off her and would put her in a home! Of course, she wasn’t that far along in her cancer to warrant full hospice, so he basically made her life a living hell so that she and her daughter have been living with family since July. She is now living with us in Florida. She has been here for over 2 weeks, and he hasn’t talked to us at all. My husband tried contacting him for financial support for food, tickets for family to visit her, specialist co-pays - all the things he would need to pay if she was living at home with him. To add insult to injury, he owns multiple homes and rentals and is in the process of selling their family home. We are not sure, but a neighbor as told us that she is pretty sure he has sold all of our daughter’s stuff to get the home ready to be put up for sale.
So after all that - do we have a case, and would we need to talk to a lawyer here in Florida first or just get her a lawyer in Asheville? The thing is, she can no longer travel. She is 85 pounds, riddled with cancer and in constant pain. She is now in the hospice system here in Florida, so we’d like to sue him for abandonment and support from Florida for her and her daughter for the time she has left. We definitely want to make sure that she gets her fair share of their home and other properties and income.
Any help you can provide will be much appreciated.
Kelli
First of all, your daughter will want to make sure she has an updated will, power of attorney, and healthcare power of attorney while she is still of a lucid mindset.
NC will likely have jurisdiction since your daughter has only been in Florida for 2 weeks. Your daughter would need to initiate a lawsuit against her husband for divorce from bed and board, postseparation support, alimony, and child support, assuming her daughter is with her in FL. However, this could likely require a court date unless she and her husband agreed on the terms, and a court date would not likely happen for a few months.
You can check with a family law attorney licensed in FL to determine if your daughter meets FL’s residency requirements to initiate legal proceedings there.
Anna Ayscue
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm Cary • Chapel Hill • Durham • Raleigh • Wake Forest
Rosen Online | Unlimited confidential access to a North Carolina attorney for $199/mo - click here
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Thank you so much for the information Anna. It all is very helpful and gives us a place to start.
Kelli