Do i have a case?

(From Florida) My daughter recently married a divorced man who shares custody of his 4-yr old daughter with his ex. The little girl was the flower girl in their wedding. I loaned her a somewhat valuable pearl necklace to wear in the wedding. The little girl was picked up from the wedding reception by her mother (the ex-wife) and we did not change her clothes before leaving because she very much wanted to show her mother how pretty she looked.

The mother (ex-wife) has returned the dress but will not return the necklace. She now says she has lost the necklace, that it was probably stolen. We believe she either has it or she threw it out in anger. I have an appraisal for the necklace and want to take her to small claims court.

She says I don't have a case because it's not like she asked to borrow the necklace and she shouldn't have been made responsible for it (by us letting the little girl wear it home). My feeling is that since she had the necklace, and she knew it had to be returned, and it has not been returned, that she's responsible for it. Is she correct or am I correct about who is legally responsible?

(I have emails from the ex-wife where she has contradicted herself regarding not knowing the necklace had to be returned where she finally admits that she did indeed know -- but now the necklace is lost.) Thanks very much.

I'm not a lawyer...

...so this is entirely an opinion, but I believe that if you followed the process clear through to its conclusion, you probably don't have a claim. IF it comes down to who the judge believes--and that this belief doesn't contradict law--you might stand a chance. But I think there are too many places where holes could be poked in that fantasy.

Does this mean I think your situation is hopeless? Absolutely NOT. I think you need to look at this as you would a medium-strong poker hand. You might have enough to win, you might get beat in the end, but either way, the cards are strong enough to play.

Carrying the poker analogy further, I strongly believe you have enough to "raise the ante", and/or to bluff with. The fact is that as long as you're just yelling "I'm going to sue", nobody is going to take you seriously. But watch how quickly they change their tune once they see you're willing to follow through. I believe that if you take even just a few steps, you'll find your necklace is somehow miraculously "found" and returned to you. Even if you have to go the distance, you're not risking much and the satisfaction might be worth the "price of admission".

I'd start by drafting a very official "Demand Letter". Make it terse, sprinkle in some DEFINITE threats (such as "unless my property is returned to me in its original condition by XXXX date, I shall file suit in XXXX courthouse on XXXX morning at 9am. You will be served with summons of Notice to Appear shortly thereafter"). You need to give the person ten days to act. Make sure you send the letter certified, return receipt requested. Even just the official "look" of this piece of mail may be enough to scare your opponent into doing the right thing. Certainly the contents of the letter will probably convince her to do so.

If, however, she does not...well, file suit! It doesn't cost much, the paperwork is easy, and you don't even have to have a real solid case because it's probably never going to get to trial to begin with. Chances are pretty good the service of summons will be sufficient to scare the woman into returning your jewelry. Chances are the woman will represent herself if she DOES refuse to return the jewelry. Chances are pretty good she won't represent herself well...she won't see the holes in your filing, if any. She will be so anxious to settle the case and make it go away that she'll submit to the mediation that is likely to be the first thing the Court requires, and then you can get some kind of satisfaction from that. Even if she refuses all of this, and takes it to trial, you can present your case in a well-documented, prepared, civil way and take advantage of the emotional outbursts she's likely to bring into the courtroom with her. That is IF SHE EVEN SHOWS UP, which she probably won't.

If it goes all the way through, and she doesn't roll over? Well then it depends on how well she presents HER case, and how well you present yours, and whether there actually IS any legal basis for you to collect. I admit I don't think there is (or at the least there are a lot of places where she could easily defend herself), but you really don't have anything to lose. She can't claim anything against you, so long as you do everything officially (and document, document, DOCUMENT). Don't call her, don't harrass her, don't have any contact with her that isn't related to the case and IN WRITING. Record any conversations she may initiate with you over the phone. Have your ducks in a row. Then follow the process. If you lose, you're out your filing fee and a little bit of time.

But if you do what I think you should, I'm sure you're going to have your necklace back before you even see the inside of the courtroom.

This is my opinion.

It'll be about 50.00 to file a claim and there is a 5,000.00 limit. Is the necklace worth more than that?

The advice on writing a letter certified mail, return reciept requested you should follow. Keep it short, brief, and to the point. No threats, just facts.

Do you have proof that the necklace was yours? You have better standing if you do. Although, from my understanding of your post, the necklace was left in the care of a 4 year old baby.

Good luck in court, if you go - you're going to need it.

Thanks Makum Pay. I have plenty of documentation proving that she has outright lied about first "not being told at all that the necklace had to be returned", then changed it to she "wasn't told until after the honeymoon", then when I told her I heard her ex-hubby tell her before the honeymoon, she admitted it but then said he "didn't tell her when or where to return it". But she knew full well she was expected to return it the next time he picked up his little girl since this is when they do any necessary exchanges/returns. I was hoping this would be enough to prove to a judge that she can't be trusted. She continued with excuses to put it off the return for weeks and then finally said she couldn't find it and it was probably stolen by her housepainters, along with some other belongings that were in the same box. However, I don't think she report it to her landlord or the police or the insurance company. Also, she thrives on going to court -- she tries to take her ex to court at least 3 times/year. She just took him back to court 2 months ago, she lost on all counts, and has already served him with mediation papers -- so here we go again! She's one of those women who thrives on making her ex as miserable as she can. But anyway, I'll follow your suggestion and make my intentions more "official" but I doubt it will scare her. Do you know what would happen if she didn't show up to court? Thanks again!

n and -- thanks for your reply. How about if I have it in writing that she admits to having the necklace and knowing it had to be returned BEFORE it was "lost"? I have kept my emails to her strictly about the necklace knowing that I would probably have to take her to small claims. However, her emails back to me were all about complaining about her ex. Incidentally, I made the necklace shorter to fit the little girl so I have 17 of the pearls in my possession for an appraisal. I also have pics of the little girl wearing it. It was a valuable necklace and a family heirloom.

I think your case is improving as you speak

The biggest "hole" I see in your case based on your first post (and this is just my opinion) is that she could try to claim the necklace was a gift to the child. It sounds like you might have enough to prove she was aware this is not the case, which in my mind is the biggest stumbling block.

If she can't be intimidated by the idea of having to go to court, she might be foolish enough to proceed. Regardless whether she does or not, I still think your "hand" is strong enough to follow through to the end and take your chances.

If you do file and she doesn't show, you would very likely win automatically. However, this "Judgement by Default", while being a good thing in effect, is actually pretty useless without additional follow-through. For one thing, you are going to have to establish the monetary value of the necklace to the satisfaction of the Court, and this will be the amount you are awarded (in other words, the Court isn't going to say "the defendant must return the necklace"). I don't think you're going to be able to adjust this amount for the "sentimental" or "heirloom" value of the piece, but I could be wrong. Even after you receive judgement in your favor, you still have nothing more than a piece of paper saying you're right. You have to continue through the process with a couple of other filings before you can attempt to collect the amount the judge awards to you. That part isn't easy. You'll have to look up the procedures in your state to see exactly which steps you'll need to follow.

I do have one question...it sounds to me like you have enough evidence to show cause for a CRIMINAL complaint of theft. Have you considered this? Filing a case in criminal court is, I believe, a lot bigger hammer...and it removes a lot of the burden of prosecution from you, and places it on the state attorney. They have a lot broader collection ability, and the proceeds of their efforts would be directed to you if any kind of settlement is reached (because they would absolutely stipulate that restitution be made). Likewise, if the matter goes before a judge and the ex-daughter in law is found guilty, I'm sure the judge is going to order restitution before offering any kind of probation. I'd seriously consider the criminal charges before a civil charge. Talk to the office of your local DA or State's Attorney (or local magistrate, what have you) to find out what is your best option.

Good luck.