Click here to subscribe FREE to Ray Hanania's Columns
Adult Sister Wins Sole Custody of Her Little Sister
By Laura Reichel
When a young girl’s adoptive home became a place of reported mistreatment and despair, her adult sister refused to remain silent.
Furthermore, it was reported the young girl’s adoptive parents allowed their family members to abuse the little girl.Fearing for her sister and desperate to protect her, the older sister drove from Iowa to Chicago to rescue her.
What followed was a complex and emotional legal battle — one that the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving Ltd. fought with determination to protect the future and safety of the two sisters whose bond overcame every obstacle.
Chicago-based matrimonial attorney Jeffery Leving, President of the Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving Ltd. will talk about this important case victory and more on the Dads’ Rights Legal Hour, 9-10 a.m. CST Saturday, November 20th on Power 92.3 FM.
This show segment will be available for download on the Dads’ Rights Legal Hour’s Spotify page on dadsrights.com. Listen to this radio show and keep hope alive by sharing this victory and connecting on Instagram @dadsrights.
It was feared that the little sister suffered from anxiety and depression due to the alleged mistreatment at her adoptive parents’ home. It was further reported that the adoptive family threatened the older sister that they would “put her in the hospital.”
In desperation and fear, the adult sister called for help. Attorney Jeffery Leving assured her that the Leving legal team would fight to save her little sister – and they did. The Leving legal team formulated the unique and challenging legal strategy – necessary under the circumstances – that the older sister would need to win custody of her little sister to protect her. The law firm’s private investigator did a criminal background investigation on the adoptive parents and also did a background check on their adult son, who turned out to have an extensive violent criminal history.
The Leving legal team went to court immediately, winning an order of protection against the adoptive family. They also went to court and facilitated the little sister being transfered to a better school in Iowa, where the older sister lives. It was a long and hard battle for the Leving team, on the older sister’s behalf, to overcome the presumed superior legal rights of the adoptive parents. However, they didn’t give up. They kept fighting. The Leving team did extensive legal research, drafted powerful pleadings, and kept putting pressure on the adoptive parents.
In the end, on the eve of trial, the adoptive parents conceded and yielded sole custody of the younger sister to the older sister, with 100% parenting time. In the final judgment, the adoptive parents were ordered by the court to stay away from the little sister. Now, the siblings are living together in Iowa, far from the adoptive parents’ reported neglect and abuse.
This was an important victory modified for publication to protect the little sister from the reported neglect and abuse the Leving legal team were told about. If the older sister had not come to us, her younger sister would likely still be living in that home or worse.
Matrimonial attorney Jeffery M. Leving is the recipient of the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from President Joe R. Biden, Jr. in recognition of 7,500 hours of Leving’s service to this nation. Leving is also the recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award from President George W. Bush. He is a nationally recognized matrimonial and family law attorney.
To learn more about Leving, law and fatherhood, visit dadsrights.com.
His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at [email protected].
Follow RayHanania at Twitter
- Early Voting Location Moves to Orland Park Civic Center for Upcoming Election Cycle - February 12, 2026
- Court Victory: A Chicago Dad’s Fight to Reunite with His Son - February 11, 2026
- Richard Boykin, Candidate for 7th Congressional District Seat, Calls for National Legislation to Eliminate Unfair Swipe Fee Charges and Protect Consumers - February 11, 2026
