Family Law Blog

Disabled Woman Allowed to Seek Visitation Rights

By Denver Divorce Lawyer on April 26, 2010

A Los Angeles judge ruled last week that the parents of a brain-damaged mother of triplets can sue on her behalf for the right to visit her children. According to an LA Times article, the 34-year-old woman gave birth to the triplets in 2006. During the delivery, she suffered a massive blood loss, which led to cardiac arrest. She was finally revived but the lack of oxygen to her brain left her unable to move or speak. The triplets were born healthy. She and her husband divorced but left decisions over child custody, visitation, property and child support to be sorted out later. The triplets’ father refuses to let the mother visit the triplets, claiming it would be detrimental to them.

The mother now lives with her parents in South Carolina. Her ex-husband lives in California with the triplets, who do not visit their mother. The woman’s parents claim that she communicates by blinking, and has expressed a desire to see her children. The woman’s former husband alleges that she is in a vegetative state and is unable to communicate.

The woman’ parents recently petitioned the court to allow them to sue on her behalf for visitation rights. Her ex-husband argued that it’s impossible to know what the mother wants, because she’s incompetent, and that to give her parents some rights in the divorce case would set a dangerous precedent. The court ruled that her parents could seek visitation on her behalf, and ordered neurological testing. Another hearing is set for May 13.

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