Location: Pa
My exhusband walked out on the kids and I at the end of last July, almost a year now. We are not yet divorced but supposedly it’s in process. At the end of April his lawyer and I discussed him getting his belongs out of the house and him cleaning out the garage (it’s all his stuff and an absolute disaster). We agreed I would give him some time to do this but didn’t set a date.
I bought him out of the house at the end of May. I again asked when he would get his things and his lawyer said he couldn’t that day but would reach out to set a date. I text messaged him June 10th asking again for a date. He asked if 2-3weeks was ok, I agreed. Of course he hasn’t done a thing.
July 3rd I emailed his lawyer once again asking when he would get his belongs and clean out the garage. I stated I would give him until August 15th. I also requested he that he change his mailing address as he has refused too. She never responded but I know he’s aware of the email because I got nasty text messages from him about “crying” to his lawyer about the garage.
I don’t want to just get rid of everything until I know for sure I’m not responsible for it. What else can I do so I can get this taken care of? Can the July email count as notice being it was sent to his lawyer? Thank you!
Comments
>Can the July email count as notice being it was sent to his lawyer?
I probably wouldn’t try to make that the notice point. You sent an email on the eve of one of the biggest holidays of the year. His lawyer could have been on vacation, email got buried, etc.
I would send a first class or certified mail notice to your ex with the specific words informing him that it will be considered abandoned property.
This statute contains these words
https://codes.findlaw.com/pa/title-68-ps-real-and-personal-property/pa-st-sect-68-250-505a/
You can also do an Internet search for terms such as:
pennsylvania legal form template landlord abandoned property
Some websites will autogenerated these and then charge you a fee to put them in their templates, but some templates are available for free. The legal self help website of the court of common pleas in your county or in busy counties such as Philadelphia or Montgomery county may have these too.
This official notice, while not exactly fitting your situation, contains some explicit disclosures and timelines. These sorts of things can protect you from liability. Your goal is to get it removed either by him or to the dump and to end the back and forth. You don’t want to be sued. The notice, the certified return receipt, the emails, the text messages, these are all evidence to protect you from disposal of abandoned personal property.
A judge or mediator is tasked with looking at this evidence and comparing it to the legal requirements under PA law, which follows the majority requirement that in the case of abandoned property, title rests with the finder or possessor. Establishing that property was abandoned and not “misplaced” or “lost” requires a showing of an intent to relinquish title. The notices and timelines, the PA legislature has found to be sufficient for landlords and tenants to resolve the issue of when tenants leave their stuff. If you follow that process, you have a very strong argument that your ex legally abandoned the property and made you the owner of all of it to dispose of it as you wish. Were your ex to.sue in small claims or in the court of common pleas, he would have a very weak case.
If there are legal documents or small photographs that you could easily mail, consider sending them to his address with the notice you will be disposing of them. This will probably prompt him to take action and it is a kind thing to send articles of sentimental value that are irreplaceable. A thing to consider as family law attorneys may attest to is that you will have years of continued dealings with this man and people tend to channel their negative feelings into adversarial court proceedings. Exes who have gotten divorced without a bitter court battle have tended to be on better terms in my experience. Little acts of kindness can go a long way and make your own life easier. Just something to think about.