http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/?uc_full_date=20130925In reading that first letter, I couldn't help but wonder if the 21-year-old has LEGAL custody of her 16-year-old sister in addition to PHYSICAL custody? If their parents did not relinquish LEGAL custody to their eldest daughter, then the 21-year-old CANNOT make ANY decisions that impact the 16-year-old.
How do I know this? I've encountered a similar situation while I was working at a high school for the Deaf. A 16-year-old arrived at the residential school WITHOUT the required medical records, WITHOUT required vaccinations, and WITHOUT the required documentation from a family court stating that the kid's college-aged sister could make any decisions regarding consent for medical treatment, etc. That put my office between a rock and a hard place in every legal sense of the word. Mess was an understatement!