Recover personal property.

[LoriTuck]

Trying to find legal recourse in recovery of all belongings being held by boyfriend and his new girlfriend in MY house! They refuse to return any of the entire household of my belongings. Since we were never married in the 12 years we were together, and Washington doesn't recognize common law, I don't know what to do. Can anyone help?

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Trying to find legal recourse in recovery of all belongings being held by boyfriend and his new girlfriend in MY house! They refuse to return any of the entire household of my belongings. Since we were never married in the 12 years we were together, and Washington doesn't recognize common law, I don't know what to do. Can anyone help?

My response:

You can sue in Small Claims court, up to the dollar limits of that court, and obtain a money judgment for the reasonable, fair market value of your stuff, from your boyfriend. This would be very fast to accomplish.

Or, if your belongings are valued above the dollar limit of Small Claims, then you'll need to file an action in a higher court for either the full fair market value or to have your actual belongings ordered returned to you. This will take much longer to accomplish.

IAAL

 

[LoriTuck]

Reply to "I am always liable"

Thank you for your suggestions. Do you know of any immediate way to stop him from dispursing of my property? Do you know much about injunctions? I am trying to find out if there are pre-made forms that would be of benefit to me to file with the court. Any further suggestions? Thank you.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Re: Reply to

Thank you for your suggestions. Do you know of any immediate way to stop him from dispursing of my property? Do you know much about injunctions? I am trying to find out if there are pre-made forms that would be of benefit to me to file with the court. Any further suggestions? Thank you.

My response:

Sure, I know about Injunctions. You'll need to file a lawsuit in a court with greater jurisdictional limits than Small Claims court. Your Causes of Action will be "Conversion of Private Property", and "Injunction", among other Causes of Action, to get the court to turn the property over to you, and to immediately stop him from selling, ruining or disposing of the property in any other manner. This requires a "full blown" lawsuit, involving attorneys and the full litigation process - - Summons, Complaint, Discovery process (interrogatories and depositions), etc., etc., etc. VERY EXPENSIVE.

Depending on the value of the property will determine whether you'll be spending as much or more money on litigation than the fair market value of the property itself. You've never specified the property or it's estimated value, so I can't help you to make a decision in that regard.

Small Claims court may not get all of the value of your property that you feel it's worth, but at the same time, it's fast and will allow you to move on with your life at a much, much, much, cheaper avenue of redress.

Good luck to you.

IAAL