Laws on personal stuff left behind?

[dani0622]

I'd like to say that if this happens stack it in front of her door blocking as much of her door as you can.

That would be pretty funny! Damn I wish I wasn't such a nice person who follows the rules!

 

[Jennasis]

Pack it up in the car and drive it over to her place. If she isn't home, leave it on her property (preferably someplace covered) with a note on the door as to where it is.

 

[Geoff_M]

Never even thought of asking police but I should do that. Plus check the divorce papers or just have the BF call his divorce attorney.

I think you'll find that the police will be very reluctant to give you advice on this given it involves a divorce. We have a friend and neighbor that recently went through a less-than-friendly divorce and there were issues regarding the removal of property. The police were called and they made it clear that they would only help "keep the peace" between the two parties and wouldn't take sides or give advice. The couple was referred to the judge in their case by the responding officer.

 

[dawson5]

I don't know how many times I've been stuck in front of a tv without a remote while feeding a baby and the tv is stuck on one of the court shows (or some other annoying show that I don't want to watch), this comes up on those shows all the time. I think it was just on the other day. I think the judge suggested getting a storage facility and putting the items in, giving the person the key and telling them they had to either pay for it or they would lose their items. You might be out one month's storage, but you would no longer have the items in your home and it was now their responsibility to either clear it out or pay for the storage to keep the items. I would think this would all depend on the state you live in though.

ETA: I think the one this happened with was a landlord/tenant dispute. Landlord asked repeatedly for them to be removed, tenant did not. Landlord threw them out after so long (months I believe). Even though they repeatedly asked the tenant to pick up items, they never did, landlord still had to pay for the items.

 

[tiggersbombed2]

I'd send her a certified register receipt letter with signature required telling her what date she needs to pick up her stuff. Give her a month. If she doesn't come get it, put it outside, either before you move or the day of, and leave it there. You gave her notice and more than enough time to take care of it.

No divorce decree is going to say "you are responsible to store exe's crap for the rest of your life".

Done.

 

[dani0622]

I don't know how many times I've been stuck in front of a tv without a remote while feeding a baby and the tv is stuck on one of the court shows (or some other annoying show that I don't want to watch), this comes up on those shows all the time. I think it was just on the other day. I think the judge suggested getting a storage facility and putting the items in, giving the person the key and telling them they had to either pay for it or they would lose their items. You might be out one month's storage, but you would no longer have the items in your home and it was now their responsibility to either clear it out or pay for the storage to keep the items. I would think this would all depend on the state you live in though.

If we could do this without being held responsible I would totally do it and not care about losing the cost of one month!

 

[dani0622]

No divorce decree is going to say "you are responsible to store exe's crap for the rest of your life".

Done.

I think you are right because I'm also divorced and I do not recall anywhere in my decree or PSA it stating anything about stuff like this.

 

[tlbwriter]

No divorce decree is going to say "you are responsible to store exe's crap for the rest of your life".

No, but the law does specify how long you have to store it. For example, here is Minnesota's abandoned personal property law, according to Labor Law Talk:

If property has not been removed within six months after it
comes into the possession of a person, it is abandoned and shall
become the property of the person in possession, after notice to
the prior owner. Thirty days' notice that the time period has
elapsed and that the ownership will be transferred at the end of
the 30 days shall be given to the prior owner personally or by
certified mail, which is actually received. If the name of the prior
owner is not known or owner cannot be located with
reasonable diligence, three weeks' published notice shall be
given in the county where the property is located. The prior
owner or another person claiming an interest in the property may
petition the district court to stay the transfer of ownership
for a reasonable period to allow the removal of the property.
The transfer is stayed while the petition is pending before the
court.

And here's more advice from Woman's Divorce.com

Allene's Question: My husband tried to kill me six month ago. He then filed for a divorce and I am trying to get his personal items out of my house. The Judge who is handling the attempted murder case will not get involved in divorce matters, and so will not issue an order. These are things that belonged to him before the marriage. Is there any way I can get these items out of my house. I have a court order of protection, and I am not dropping charges. Any assistance would be appreciated.

Brette's Answer: First of all I'm so sorry about your situation and am glad you are ok. If divorce has been filed for, there must be a judge assigned to that case and that is the judge with whom to file a motion and ask that he be directed to remove his belongings by a certain date or they will be disposed of. The other option is to get your attorney to talk to his attorney and come to a similar agreement. Good luck

Seriously, you do not have the legal right to just dump/sell this stuff because you decide you've held onto it long enough (even though you have the moral right, kwim?). Find out about your state's law.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I'd send her a certified letter (return receipt requested), and give her 30 days from the date of receipt to remove any possessions from the residence.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I think after 4 years that the items would be considered abandoned.

 

[Handbag Lady]

"Tubby" ???


I would have set it all on fire. Passive aggressive THAT, ex-wife.

 

[Carnie]

No divorce decree is going to say "you are responsible to store exe's crap for the rest of your life".

Done.

Not exactly true. My decree said I had to keep it for a "reasonable" amount of time, but there was no definition of "reasonable" attached.

I had it for 3 years before I called my lawyer.

And, wouldn't you know, the badmanwhosmamawasntmarried, waited until literally the LAST day he was allowed by law to move it out.

 

[dani0622]

"Tubby" ???


I would have set it all on fire. Passive aggressive THAT, ex-wife.

tubby would probably be one of the nicer names I've been called....

 

[Miniefan]

There is a statute of limitations here, you need to find out what it is for your state, although Im sure that 4 yrs is plenty of time to be considered it abandoned stuff. I probably would have threw that crap away and I wouldnt have even said a word to her, honestly if you have gone 4 years without this stuff, its obviously not that important to you. But, she knows about it now, and she would try to do something if you just chunked it.

I would research the statute, and then write a letter stating she has 2 weeks, yes only 2 weeks, I mean come on its been there forever, have it notarized, and then send it certified mail to her address.

In the letter, I would state, as per statute blah, blah, blah, your personal property has been stored by us for _____ years, you have 2 weeks to pick up your personal property, if it is not picked up by ______ date, it will be disposed of. End of story.

Kim

 

[Ponygirl]

tubby would probably be one of the nicer names I've been called....

You are waaay nicer than I would ever be. I would be emptying the cat litter into a different box of her stored treasures each week. Call me tubby, will ya?

 

[DisneyChula]

I would definitely contact a lawyer or some sort of official (fair housing maybe?) regarding this. Each state has different laws concerning abandoned property and some states may not have any laws at all. I work for an apartment community management company that has properties all over the country and the laws are sometimes even defined by the town you are in so it's definitely in your best interest to cover your bases. Personally (and not logically) I probably would have torched it too! But if she's using this to try and start issues already then I think she would certainly try and make something out the loss of such "important" items! Good luck!

 

[dani0622]

There is a statute of limitations here, you need to find out what it is for your state, although Im sure that 4 yrs is plenty of time to be considered it abandoned stuff. I probably would have threw that crap away and I wouldnt have even said a word to her, honestly if you have gone 4 years without this stuff, its obviously not that important to you. But, she knows about it now, and she would try to do something if you just chunked it.

I would research the statute, and then write a letter stating she has 2 weeks, yes only 2 weeks, I mean come on its been there forever, have it notarized, and then send it certified mail to her address.

In the letter, I would state, as per statute blah, blah, blah, your personal property has been stored by us for _____ years, you have 2 weeks to pick up your personal property, if it is not picked up by ______ date, it will be disposed of. End of story.

Kim

She definitely knew it was there before we even mentioned it because she started listing what was there when we told her the stuff was up there. And she most definitely would go after us if we chucked it. I will look into the statute. Thank you.

 

[dani0622]

You are waaay nicer than I would ever be. I would be emptying the cat litter into a different box of her stored treasures each week. Call me tubby, will ya?

Believe me, if there wasn't a child involved, I would definitely not be this nice! I want him (the child) to see what kind of person she is compared to us by our actions (which are non-reactive and mature) and her actions and words (which are immature and antagonizing). (That's a WHOLE other story about the names she calls us to their child.)

 

[dani0622]

I would definitely contact a lawyer or some sort of official (fair housing maybe?) regarding this. Each state has different laws concerning abandoned property and some states may not have any laws at all. I work for an apartment community management company that has properties all over the country and the laws are sometimes even defined by the town you are in so it's definitely in your best interest to cover your bases. Personally (and not logically) I probably would have torched it too! But if she's using this to try and start issues already then I think she would certainly try and make something out the loss of such "important" items! Good luck!

I'll research that as well. Thank you. And yes, she's trying to make a big deal out of it and def. would if we tossed it, that's why I want to protect ourselves.

 

[Miniefan]

She definitely knew it was there before we even mentioned it because she started listing what was there when we told her the stuff was up there. And she most definitely would go after us if we chucked it. I will look into the statute. Thank you.

Check into housing and rental laws. I mean, if you were renting somewhere and you left some stuff, would they be liable it they threw it away? Sort of the same scenario, especially if the divorce decree says nothing about her belongings. Hope you are able to resolve it soon. Sucks you have somebody like that and you HAVE to keep dealing with them. She is totally loving this by the way, so don't give her any satisfaction.

Kim