Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

My wife moved out August 2011 to my parernt's home in Kentucky. Periodically I would bring up the conversation of retrieving her items, but she could never provide a timeframe. January 2012, I acquired a roommate and needed to remove her items from my residence to accomodate him. I moved her possessions to a local storage unit, which was in my name in MD, notified her, and paid for 2 months. She made no attempt to get her property from storage until March, which at this time she removed half of the unit. I informed her again that she needed to pay for the unit in March via phone. She asked me to take the rest of the items out and mail them to her I said, "no". April 2012, I contacted her by certified mail to make a payment because I received a notice from the storage unit, no response. Her first response came through her lawyer in Mid May stating the responsibility of the unit was mine, because it was in my name and my wife was only responsible for paying for May 2012 and the months following if there were items still in the unit. Once I received this letter from her lawyer, I received a lien notice from the storage unit 14 May 2012 stating the items would go to auction on 29 May 2012, I mailed this notice to her and she received it 17 May 2012. What is my liability in this situation and what reimbursement am I entitled to, if any?


Asked on 5/23/12, 10:45 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Sher Wagshal and Sher

If I understand your question correctly the only months in dispute as to who should pay are March and April, as her lawyer indicated that she would take responsibility for May going forward. From a strictly legal standpoint I think once you give her notice of the storage unit and access to it, she has a responsibility to safeguard her property and fails to do so at her peril. The practical question is whether it's worth it to let it go to default which could have a negative effect on your credit rating since it's your name on the contract. If you have a month to month contract it probably makes more sense to cancel it and if she doesn't remove her items by the end of the contract the rental company will dispose of them. If these items have any value it seems absurd that she would ignore the upcoming deadline.

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Answered on 5/23/12, 11:15 am


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