Disabilities

THIS IS WRITTEN TO THE VICTIM’S SISTER - CHANGE TERMS WHEN NEEDED THROUGHOUT:
Although I cannot speak to your sister’s situation in particular, in general, anyone can file for divorce or decide to leave a marriage at any time if s/he meets the residency requirements of the state, whether or not the spouse is disabled or not. Laws that deal with abandonment of a disabled person generally deal with a situation where a person has legal custody over the disabled person (such as a parent) or the person was legally appointed by the court as the legal guardian over the disabled person. This type of law generally tries to prevent someone who is severely disabled and cannot speak or help himself/herself from being walked out on - for example, if a person is paralyzed and left alone in his/her bed for days by a caretaker who knows that the person cannot move; or if the person is mentally disabled and cannot speak, cannot use a telephone, cannot cook for himself/herself and that person is left alone in a home without any way to get help. In general, these laws are not designed so that a person who is married to a
disabled person has to stay married to that person forever. Again, however, I cannot speak to her specific situation to say whether or not she has any sort of legal obligation to her spouse in some way based on his disability. She can get specific advice about this from a lawyer who can clear up the exact laws for her in her state and advise her as to her rights. I will include a link for free legal services below where hopefully she can get some advice.

I did a quick search through the STATE criminal laws [NOTE - LOOK IN CRIMINAL CODE FOR CRIMES WITH “ABANDON!” IN IT] and I did not find a specific crime of “abandonment of a disabled person” or anything with a similar name in STATE (I only found one in Iowa and Washington through a Google search) but, as I said, I am not specifically familiar with STATE laws so I cannot say for sure that there may not be some law out there that I didn’t find. Again, perhaps your sister may want to have a consultation with a lawyer in STATE to confirm whether or not such a law exists. If STATE does have such a law, hopefully the lawyer can read it with your sister and explain
to her whether or not her specific situation falls into what that law protects. Here are links for lawyers and free legal organizations:LINK

And here is some information on divorce in STATE in case your sister decides to pursue a divorce: LINK

[ADD IF RELEVANT: Lastly, you mentioned that her husband is threatening towards her. There are protections offered by the law when someone is being abused or fears that s/he is in immediate danger of abuse. Here is a link with information about two types of protection orders in STATE if your sister wants to consider this option:LINK Also, here are some signs of emotional and psychological abuse that you may want to look at with your sister to see if she is being abused: http://www.womenslaw.org//simple.php?sitemap_id=38&lang=en For emotional support for those who are in an abusive relationship, there are local domestic violence organizations that offer free help - see here:LINK]