Keeping a gift that someone wants back?

[Kusanagi]

California is the state this takes place in.

Got a dillemma here.

My ex-girlfriend and I have not spoken since October. She just called me, saying she wants to come up on Saturday and get her things (I have a shirt or two of hers here)

The big thing, she said, is she needs her computer back to give it to her grandmother.

When we were going out, I had a POS computer in my room. Her family had one lying around, and she gave it to me, and her father said it was okay. It ended up being a P4 2.5 gigahertz (FAR better than my old machine). It was a gift, as far as I knew.

Now, she says she wants it back. I told her that it was a gift, a no strings attatched thing.

Her: "No, my father allowed you to have it as long as you stayed friends with me."

Me: "Neither one of you told me that. Why didn't your father tell me this directly or why didn't you tell me that when you gave it to me?"

Her: "He told me that, and I understood it. I'll be up on Saturday."

The conversation ended there. I'm in a bind now because I don't know what my options are. I KNOW that I was never informed of some sort of "deal" between her and her father.

I do everything on that computer - I program, I have all my school stuff on it, I write, ect.

Due to the circumstances, should I just treat it as a "immature whore trying to get back what she gave me after we broke up" or should I actually be concerned of legal action since it's her father that apparently wants the computer back?

I didn't give her an answer but I want to know where I stand before I give it back (not before formatting it first) or take a stand and say that it was a gift from her, it's mine, and I refuse to give it back.

I'm trying to get advice on this. She's claiming she had an agreement with her father, but wether or not she did shouldn't matter, should it? I was never informed of such an arrangement.

If it comes down to my word against theirs in small claims court, I need some advice on convincing the judge that it's a case of a "jaded lover." I think the fact that it's been 4 months since last contact would help my case there.

I just want to know if I have a shot, should I refuse to give it back and they decide to take me to small claims court to get it back. If it's a 50% chance, I'll go for it and decide to not give it back without a court order.

Thanks in advance for the advice. I don't act swiftly, but I do act decisively and I just want to get as much advice as I can before I make a decision to fight for it or just format it and give it back.

~Kusanagi

[BL]

Originally Posted by Kusanagi

California is the state this takes place in.

Got a dillemma here.

My ex-girlfriend and I have not spoken since October. She just called me, saying she wants to come up on Saturday and get her things (I have a shirt or two of hers here)

The big thing, she said, is she needs her computer back to give it to her grandmother.

When we were going out, I had a POS computer in my room. Her family had one lying around, and she gave it to me, and her father said it was okay. It ended up being a P4 2.5 gigahertz (FAR better than my old machine). It was a gift, as far as I knew.

Now, she says she wants it back. I told her that it was a gift, a no strings attatched thing.

Her: "No, my father allowed you to have it as long as you stayed friends with me."

Me: "Neither one of you told me that. Why didn't your father tell me this directly or why didn't you tell me that when you gave it to me?"

Her: "He told me that, and I understood it. I'll be up on Saturday."

The conversation ended there. I'm in a bind now because I don't know what my options are. I KNOW that I was never informed of some sort of "deal" between her and her father.

I do everything on that computer - I program, I have all my school stuff on it, I write, ect.

Due to the circumstances, should I just treat it as a "immature whore trying to get back what she gave me after we broke up" or should I actually be concerned of legal action since it's her father that apparently wants the computer back?

I didn't give her an answer but I want to know where I stand before I give it back (not before formatting it first) or take a stand and say that it was a gift from her, it's mine, and I refuse to give it back.

I'm trying to get advice on this. She's claiming she had an agreement with her father, but wether or not she did shouldn't matter, should it? I was never informed of such an arrangement.

If it comes down to my word against theirs in small claims court, I need some advice on convincing the judge that it's a case of a "jaded lover." I think the fact that it's been 4 months since last contact would help my case there.

I just want to know if I have a shot, should I refuse to give it back and they decide to take me to small claims court to get it back. If it's a 50% chance, I'll go for it and decide to not give it back without a court order.

Thanks in advance for the advice. I don't act swiftly, but I do act decisively and I just want to get as much advice as I can before I make a decision to fight for it or just format it and give it back.

~Kusanagi

It's possible the Father would state in Court " since you claim your X g/f was an immature W*** , and really name calling on this board is also immature , that the Father would Testify the PC was NOT a Gift , but rather he allowed Both his daughter and you to use it .

He could prove around what it's worth today , and be awarded a reasonable award of money ( not the return of the PC ) , then he could take collection actions to recover the money you owe ,

You could try going into court and pleading your case and hope they all screw up their stories making your version more believable so you could win .

[Kusanagi]

My apologies for the name calling. Obviously none of that would happen in court. I had posted this on another community message board for advice and pasted it here as well. I do apologize.

So how exactly would I go about a small claims court case on this? Would I file against him to keep the computer or wait until he filed against me and stay on the defense?

[BL]

You would wait . Then go and put forth your defense to the claim .

[BelizeBreeze]

You have no defense. Give the computer back before you end up paying court costs AND the value of the computer.

[Kusanagi]

Originally Posted by BelizeBreeze

You have no defense. Give the computer back before you end up paying court costs AND the value of the computer.

Could you please explain to me why I have no defense, and how the two of them could have a case against me if they discussed an agreement among themselves that I was never informed of?

[BelizeBreeze]

Originally Posted by Kusanagi

Could you please explain to me why I have no defense, and how the two of them could have a case against me if they discussed an agreement among themselves that I was never informed of?

Because you cannot prove that the computer was a gift. Plain and simple. You will use the 'gift' defense and then you will be required to offer proof of your theory, which you cannot.

The father, on the other hand, can prove ownership of the item.

Case Closed.

Give the computer back.

[HomeGuru]

Kusanagi san, give puter back. Move on. Live life.

[dinosaurhat]

Because you cannot prove that the computer was a gift. Plain and simple. You will use the 'gift' defense and then you will be required to offer proof of your theory, which you cannot.

Would this be the same if he was loaned money?

[BelizeBreeze]

Originally Posted by dinosaurhat

Would this be the same if he was loaned money?

It would be the same for anything. However, with money, there is no 'ownership' trail unless the person giving you the money wrote down the serial numbers and you had them in your possession at the time of trial.

Safe to say that would NEVER happen.

In this case, there is an 'ownership' trail. And the poster's story is very weak. That, along with the father's witness, tells me there is a strong case of this punk trying to get something that doesn't belong to him.

[dinosaurhat]

Quote:
Originally Posted by dinosaurhat
Would this be the same if he was loaned money?

It would be the same for anything. However, with money, there is no 'ownership' trail unless the person giving you the money wrote down the serial numbers and you had them in your possession at the time of trial.

Safe to say that would NEVER happen.

In this case, there is an 'ownership' trail. And the poster's story is very weak. That, along with the father's witness, tells me there is a strong case of this punk trying to get something that doesn't belong to him.

Can an ownership trail be a check?

[BelizeBreeze]

Originally Posted by dinosaurhat

Quote:
Originally Posted by dinosaurhat
Would this be the same if he was loaned money?

It would be the same for anything. However, with money, there is no 'ownership' trail unless the person giving you the money wrote down the serial numbers and you had them in your possession at the time of trial.

Safe to say that would NEVER happen.

In this case, there is an 'ownership' trail. And the poster's story is very weak. That, along with the father's witness, tells me there is a strong case of this punk trying to get something that doesn't belong to him.

Can an ownership trail be a check?

I answered your initial question only because it pertained to the ORIGINAL post. Now you are hijacking a thread. If you have an issue and need advice, post your facts to a new thread.