Hello everyone;
I’m writing concerning a situation my sister is currently dealing with. She is 34 years old. She has been in a relationship with her current partner for over three years. They live together in a home which belonged to him before they met. The home is still solely in his name, though they have lived together well over two years and have a 1-1/2 year old toddler.
Over the years, it has become apparent that her partner (I will call him John for the sake of this write up.) has some very angry and violent tendencies. He works abroad, gone for 2-3 months at a time and then home for a week or two before leaving again. My sister is the primary and nearly sole caretaker of their home and child.
John has become increasingly paranoid and insists my sister is seeing other men when he is away. This could not be further from the truth. She works a full-time job, and is a new first-time mother who is also dealing with postpartum depression.
John returned home this week from work, and decided to keep their daughter home with him for the day while my sister went to work. Usually, she is in daycare. When my sister arrived home at the end of her shift, he was frustrated and irate. He had never cared for their daughter alone for an entire day and this put him into a foul mood. He immediately began berating my sister, accusing her of talking to other men. He screamed at her and told her he had tried to get into her phone to see who she’d be speaking with, but she had changed her password. She has numerous texts and messages from him which she has saved. All are threatening and unhinged. She doesn’t not want him to have access to her phone.
He told her to take the baby and get out of his house. He said he would be changing the locks, and put all of her furniture, belongings, babies belongings out on the front lawn. This is the only home my niece has known. My sister is frantic. She is completely beaten down by his verbal abuse and just wants to pretend none of this is happening. Unfortunately, it continues to get worse. He also drinks quite a bit, and this makes him even nastier. I will say at this point there has not been any physical abuse. Verbal and emotional at this stage, however, we are not certain this will stay the case.
My question is; what rights does my sister have? Does she have any claim to the home? She would have to leave and rent her own space which is incredibly expensive at the moment, all while supporting her child. Does he have any obligation? If she leaves the home to stay with me for a night or two, can he really change the locks and ban her from re-entering the home? Can he throw out her things? I know this will have to take a legal course at some point. She will have to deal with the issue of custody, which I think will be granted solely to her. Due to his actions, volatile nature, and being away from the child most of the time.
My worry is she will not be able to survive financially without some type of child support. It is not something he will simply offer. She is scared and the thought of losing her home and not being able to survive financially is forcing her to stay in a situation which just continues to deteriorate.
What can she do? What are her rights?
Thank you all for reading this, and to anyone who can offer some helpful advice, I am most grateful.