Legal Question in Family Law in California
My divorce finalized earlier this year and my Ex refuses to give me back my personal items. These are items I paid for myself and items from my childhood before we were together. He lives in a different county than I do. Where do I start?
2 Answers from Attorneys
You start with your divorce judgment. Does it say you get any specific personal items? Does it say you get to get things you left in his possession? If not, is it silent about personal property? If it is silent, you can go back to court and ask for undivided property to be distributed and then get an order for delivery of your personal property added to the divorce. If, however, it is a normal divorce judgment, it probably says that each person keeps what personal property they have at the time of the judgment. If so, you gave him your things. The third possibility is that it says personal effects and property go to whomever they belonged to during the marriage. If it says that, you can go in for an order that he deliver them to you.
Mr. McCormick is correct. When parties have already more or less divided everything up, I ask my client if there is anything specifically they want that they don't currently have. If they say no, then I just write an agreement that each party keeps what is currently in their possession. I don't want the parties being forced to continue to deal with each other after the divorce is over, unless it has to do with children.