Ex-partner refusing to retun my belongings

[Monkey36]

I had been with my ex partner for 13 years and we had a joint mortgagetogether for 10 years.

We were due to get married 10 months ago however he felt we wereincompatible and called the wedding off 8 weeks before the date.

He made it very clear that he wanted to keep the house as we bought it fromhis parents so I moved out and stayed with a friend until the joint mortgagewas transferred into his sole name and 50% of the equity released to me..

On the whole the process was fairly amicable. I boxed up as much of mybelongings as I could and put into my parents garage. I told my Ex what otherthings I intended to take, mainly the pieces of furniture I had bought andkitchen equipment. He agreed with what I intended to take and kindly offeredfor me to leave them in the house until I get my own place. I kindly offered totemporally leave my kitchen things - things i had before we lived together andother items I inherited from my Nan (easily replaced but sentimental) for himto use, as I didn’t need them immediately as I was staying with a friend whichalso gave him the time to replace them.

However he dragged out the process of transferring the equity saying hecouldn't afford the solicitors fees, he insisted that I pay for his solicitorout of my share of the equity otherwise I would have to wait months for him tosave up, I paid £500! I had to agree this with his solicitor before they wouldrelease the equity to me.

Before he would sign the transfer of title deeds he requested that I wouldagree to pay his new mortgage set up fees of a further £268 and return allhouse keys to him.

I had an offer accepted on a house and it was all waiting on me having thedeposit, so I verbally agreed that I would. I was trapped!!

However I didn’t pay it as I felt it was black mail and I had already kindlypaid his previous fees that I didn’t have to do!!!

Now I'm in my new home I contacted the Ex as planned to get my belongings,he's ignored all my calls and messages and refused to answer the door to me. Eventuallyhe sent a text saying I’ve had £xx K off him and that his solicitor has toldhim that now the house is in his sole name and that I have cashed the equitycheque I have no legal right to anything in the house.

My mum managed to speak to him last night and he told her he was intentionallyignoring me and refusing to return my belongings because I didn’t give him the £268for his mortgage fee.

I have credit card statements showing the items I bought in last 3 years,amounting to over £3k. I only have an actual receipt for one item of furniture.

Do I have any hope of getting my things back?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

[NA1978]

I would make a list of all the items you own & write him a strongly worded letter, listing your items and ask him to return them within a set time frame or you will have no choice but to seek legal redress as his actions are tantamount to theft. You could include copies of receipts & bank statements showing payment for the various items so he knows you have proof of purchse. Then if he fails to respond, go to the police as intentionally keeping your belonging is actually theft. If he ignores you, he might feel differently about returning your things after a visit from the police.

 

Good luck.

[blueda]

My advice is for you to contact Citizens advice and take it from there.

[marmaris30]

The only route to forcing him to hand over what you claim is yours, would be to make a claim in the county court. You could ask for delivery or just claim the value.

 

However, with it being 'domestic' and there being a lack of definitive receipts (a credit card statement shows what you spent when and where, but not on what), the chances of success are probably 50/50 at best. Taking him to court would also almost certainly permanently sour things from the outset and he might suddenly find the money for a solicitor, which puts you at risk of costs, depending on the track.

 

I'd suggest that you continue trying as hard as possible to reach an amicable agreement, for example by letter, for a fair period before you even think about drastic steps.

[andydd]

As suggested unless you have proof of ownership it is unlikely you could persuede a court the items were yours, you could of course use any correspondence from him which mentions items are yours or Im not returning them because of xxx, but if they were just phone calls it may be very hard. Clearly you could prove that a make up box is yours but you would have a harder job with a sofa or tv.

 

Andy

[Monkey36]

Thank you for the excellent advice.Think the letter and a list would be a good next step.

[completeunknown]

The police can always accompany you to the address to collect your things. You could then contact him saying that the police will be accompanying you to get your things. He doesn't need to know why. One of my friends did this.