Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New Jersey

Stepmom bought shoes for Stepkids and Bio-Mom returned shoes for cash

I recently found out from my stepchildren that their mother had taken the three pairs of shoes I bought for them back to the store for a refund and pocketed the cash. When I confronted her, she lied and said she exchanged the shoes I bought for different shoes because the ones I bought for the children were too big, so she said. I kept the tags and the receipt from the shoes and know that they were not too big. Nevertheless, I told her she had no right returning a gift I bought for the children and I either wanted the shoes back(which the children could wear while at their father�s house) or I wanted to be reimbursed for the three pairs of shoes. She refused. I�ve sent her a letter (certified mail) in this regard and it has been ignored. The total amount of the three pairs of shoes is less than $50, however, she has done similar things like this in the past, and just for principals alone, I want her to be made accountable. Do I have a case?


Asked on 6/18/01, 10:55 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Gleaner Robert A. Gleaner, P.C.

Re: Stepmother wants reimbursement

If this is the only problem between your husband and his ex, my suggestion is to forget it and move on. My gut tells me, however, that this is only the tip of the iceberg. I'm also wondering why you are dealing with this instead of your husband. The best policy is for the new spouse to stay out of these issues. In fact, under the law, once you give a gift, you have no control anymore. It is up to the receiver of the gift to do what needs to be done to assert rights. In this case, since the gift was to a child, the custodial parent (the bio-mom) asserts the rights of the child. But I digress. The bottom line is that if there are issues that need to be resolved, it is up to the parents to resolve them, not the step-parents. Keep in mind that this advice is based purely on the little bit of information that you have given to me. There may be other factors that would change my opinion. Further, no one can rely on advice from an attorney who has not been retained. Since it appears that you have not retained an attorney, before you take any further action, you should contact an attorney (either me or someone else) to discuss your matter in more detail. Only then will you be able to rely on the advice. I will be happy to assist you. However, you need to call me at 856-546-8010. If you mention LawGuru, there will be no charge for your first consultation. Good luck! Rob Gleaner

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Answered on 6/28/01, 1:59 pm


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