Switch to ADA Accessible Theme
Close Menu
Get In Touch With Our Team 561-391-9943
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

What Should You Do If Your Ex-Spouse Will Not Remove His Or Her Personal Property From Your House?

Packing

In movies, it makes for a delightfully dramatic scene when one spouse lets the other know that the marriage is over by removing their spouse’s property from the marital home.  One of the most memorable scenes in Larry Crowne is when Julia Roberts’s character kicks her husband to the curb by moving his computer desk and all the other contents of their home office out to the front lawn.  In real life, such behavior does not fly.  Even when a tenant abandons a residence, the landlord must follow a whole set of procedures before it is legal to remove the tenant’s personal property from the premises.  Unfortunately, the little things in divorce are sometimes the ones that take the longest to resolve.  After the court has determined that you can remain in the marital home, your children spend weekdays with you and weekends with your ex, and your ex must pay you rehabilitative alimony for two years, months can go by before your ex removes his personal property from the former marital home.  If you have already talked to your ex about the matter, and your ex still has not removed his stuff, contact a Boca Raton divorce lawyer.

You Can’t Just Leave Your Ex-Spouse’s Stuff Outside on the Curb

You never cared for your ex-spouse’s clutter while you were married, and now his collection of Star Wars memorabilia is still littering your living room, even after the divorce is finalized.  What should you do?  When one spouse retains possession of the marital home, the court order that finalizes the divorce might also include deadlines by which the spouse who stays in the home must buy out the share of the spouse who vacated it.  It might also include a deadline by which the spouse who vacated must remove their personal property.

If your ex has not removed her personal property by the deadline, the best thing to do is talk to your ex about it directly.  If you can, make plans for your ex to pack her property and remove it; if things are especially contentious between you, it might be best if at least one other adult is present, such as one of your ex’s parents.  If this does not work, you should send a letter to your ex’s lawyer.  It should say that, if your ex does not remove the property within 30 days, you will place it in a storage unit.  Then, you will hold your ex responsible for the cost of the storage unit.  Arguing in court with your ex-spouse about reimbursement for a storage unit is much better than your ex suing you for destroying her property.

Contact Schwartz | White About Disputes Over Personal Property After Divorce

A South Florida family law attorney can help you resolve disputes over your ex-spouse’s failure to remove personal property from the former marital home.  Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.

Source:

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0705/0705.html

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
MileMark Media

© 2017 - 2024 The Law Offices of Schwartz | White, Attorneys at Law. All rights reserved.
This law firm website is managed by MileMark Media.