can property be recovered?

[cldbwin]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? N.J. Several years ago my sister & her husband suggest I store some of my belongings in their garage as I had apartment with no space. Most belongings were returned over the years, but some articles remained in the garage. At some point my sister's husband "gifted" their daughter with a very valuable piece of property (an antique stained glass window which was given by his now deceased grandfather) belonging to my son. I have spoken with my sister about this situation and she says her daughter restored the piece & intends to keep it. Do we have any recourse?

 

[tijerin]

Can you prove it belonged to you? Can you prove that you didn't "abandon" the item at their house in their garage? How are they justifying their keeping, then subsequently, giving away "your" property?

 

[cldbwin]

My son's father & sister were both witness to the piece being given to my son, who was a baby at the time. Also, my niece admitted that it belonged to my son when we discussed the way it was wrapped when her father gave it to her. I don't know how to prove it wasn't abandoned except to say that when my sister's husband brought my belongings to me, this particular piece was omitted. I'm sure it was unintentional and he gave it to his daughter mistakenly. No one is disputing that the piece was given to my niece in error. She believes it belongs to her because she invested in repairing this antique.

 

[tijerin]

Family issues are fragile and I suggest you tread lightly of you want to preserve the relationship. If you don't, sue them to get the proprty back or the value of the property. You could also offer to reimburse your niece-in-law for the cost of restoring the piece. She may go for that and you could preserve the relationship. Or you could forget about it and chalk it up to a lesson learned. It really depends upon how much animosity you want to create between you and your in-laws.

 

[cldbwin]

Thank you so very much for your response. I'll seriously consider making an offer to reimburse my niece her investment, although it may have devalued a seriously valuable antique. I should say, in addition, that family relations are already strained as this was not a first incident. Many years ago, my sister's other daughter stole my jewelry. An action for which I didn't even receive an apology. Of course these are 2 separate situations, but non-action seems to leave the door open (so to speak) for more loss.

 

[tijerin]

If your sister's daughter(s) have a history of stealing from you, common sense should tell you not to entrust your valuables to your sister or at least in a position where your sister(s) daughters have access to said property. As per the "devaluation" of the antique due to it's restoration, that could be construed as actual damages, but, of course, that's up tp the judge to decide. i would still include that monetary damage in my lawsuit backed up by a professional's expert opinion on how "devalued" the item would have become.

Remember, "stealing from you" is a criminal offense. Civil courts deal with monetary damages. You're unlikely to get your "property" returned in civil court. of course, if you have a police report of the theft and a subsequent conviction, it would make your case much stronger in civil court as the burden of proof shifts from "beyond a reasonable doubt" to "more likely than not" (or something like that but less restrictive and easier to prove).

If you already have a strained relationship with your in-laws, and they know what your options are (criminal and civil liability on their part), dropping this matter and chalking it up to experience, MAY be a BIG STEP in showing a good-faith effort on your part to better the relationship. Just don't store things in their garage anymore. Get a storage unit, if you need to store things.