Grounds for cease and desist letter?

[FYIGMO]

Our extended family (Mom, Dad, and five siblings) live throughout California, and we have a problem with one of the siblings. One of my sisters "divorced" herself from contact with the rest of the family about fifteen years ago after years of hell and, suffice it to say, everyone was glad to see her go her own way. Now, over the last two years she has made many, many attempts to either contact our immediate family members, extended family, or friends in order to "make contact" with my Dad, even though he has communicated to her that he does not desire a relationship with her. Also, and this is the weird part, she never provides him/us with contact information to reach her directly and depends on a web of contacts to get the information back to her. At any rate, she will not take no for an answer and we are all fed up with her contact shenanigans. We simply want her to stop!

My question is: Given the circumstances, is there any precedence for having a lawyer draw up a cease and desist letter? If there is, what kind of authority and/or power does such a letter carry? One thing I should note is that although there has been no violence on her part, we are all in agreement that she is a sociopathic personality type, and to that end there is very real fear on our parts that she could turn violent in the future (ie., Bitter Blood). Any advice or insights would help us all out a lot. Thanks.

 

[Ohiogal]

First of all you are not in a position to diagnosis your sister. second of all, no one but dad, if dad is the one she is contacting, can tell her to cease and desist contact if he responds at all. Why don't you all just ignore her?

 

[tranquility]

The only thing such a letter is good for in such a circumstance is to help prove the mental state of the person receiving it. If you get a letter telling you to stop contacting me because it's causing me stress, it is difficult for you to later claim you didn't know your contacts were bothering me.

Since intent is important to many causes of action, this might make proof a little easier.

 

[FYIGMO]

First of all you are not in a position to diagnosis your sister. second of all, no one but dad, if dad is the one she is contacting, can tell her to cease and desist contact if he responds at all. Why don't you all just ignore her?

First of all, it is NOT a diagnosis but an opinion shared by all other family members. Obviously I cannot relate 40 years of personal experience and events with my sister, but suffice it to say she has not been able to conduct herself within the norms of society, and to that end there is concern on all our parts that the potential exists for her to turn violent.

My Dad has responded to her and told her stop contacting him, to no avail. It's very easy to say to ignore her when you don't have to live the hassles and embarrassment caused by her actions. Apparently, from what's been posted so far, we have no recourse but to let things happen. This is the kind of situation where TV crews turn up after the worst has happened and everyone stands around saying, "Why didn't anyone do something to prevent this?"

FYIGMO

 

[FYIGMO]

The only thing such a letter is good for in such a circumstance is to help prove the mental state of the person receiving it. If you get a letter telling you to stop contacting me because it's causing me stress, it is difficult for you to later claim you didn't know your contacts were bothering me.

Since intent is important to many causes of action, this might make proof a little easier.

Thanks for your reply. Helping to prove my sister's mental state would be helpful, but given what little the law seems to be able do in this situation renders it kind of moot. I'll keep collecting information and present it to the other family members and perhaps we'll come to a decision about what to do. Thanks again.

FYIGMO

 

[Silverplum]

First of all, it is NOT a diagnosis but an opinion shared by all other family members. Obviously I cannot relate 40 years of personal experience and events with my sister, but suffice it to say she has not been able to conduct herself within the norms of society, and to that end there is concern on all our parts that the potential exists for her to turn violent.

Do you know the purpose of this site?

It's to help you/others do your best in court.

DON'T put forth a "diagnosis." It'll KILL you in court. If you aren't a licensed practicing psychiatrist, then leave the diagnoses to the pros.

The Court doesn't care what your family thinks. The Court is interested in FACTS ONLY.

So take the advice you're given, and consider that the volunteers are trying to help you.