Right to a Relationship

Due to emotional abuse, Patrick, who has a head injury, was removed from his home and not allowed to see or visit with his wife.  Because he still wanted a relationship with her, Patrick was extremely unhappy about this situation. 

AC was appointed to represent Patrick and protect his rights in the court proceedings with Adult Protective Services. Understanding his client, the AC attorney realized that keeping Patrick apart from his wife made him want to be with her even more. 

Despite the State’s objections and the judge's skepticism, the AC attorney was able to negotiate visitation rights for Patrick with his wife.  The AC attorney successful argued for his client’s right to make his own decision about the direction that his marriage was to take. 

The attorney then proposed a visitation schedule that took "baby-steps" - it began with supervised visitation at the institution were the client was currently living and ended with an overnight visitation at Patrick’s former home.. 

As expected, after getting half way through the visitation schedule, Patrick saw his wife for what she was, decided that he no longer wanted to see her and began divorce proceedings. Patrick is no longer under the Protective Order – he’s very happy and, as of the last time he spoke with his attorney, was planning to attend a Mardi Gras ball with his new girlfriend!