Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia

Re: Car Dispute Between Ex-Boyfriend

If the car is in both your names, chances are the two of you share ownership jointly unless your boyfriend very clearly intended to give you as a gift whatever ownership interest in the vehicle which he legitimately possessed.

If that were actually the case then you would be the sole legal owner of the vehicle and consequently entitled to simply take possession of the vehicle and drive it off.(At some point, however, you would need to presuade your former boyfriend to sign his share of the title over to you.)

Re: Car Dispute Between Ex-Boyfriend

If the title is in your name also, you have a right to go drive the car away any time you want. (Make a photocopy and keep the original where your boyfriend can't get at it.) Do you have a key of your own? If you really want to go that far, using the title you could get a locksmith to make you a key. Also, your boyfriend does not have a legal right to keep the car from you if you are a co-owner, so you really could complain to the police, although I doubt they would want to get in the middle of it other than to ask the guy to be reasonable.

However, you say that your boyfriend gave your half to you. This might be hard to prove. If the title really does have your name on it, this is pretty darn good proof, but he might be able to unravel that by showing that he paid all the money for it. However, until he does get the title changed (which would be far from easy for him to do) you have an equal right to the car.

Actually what we say is that both of you have a right to 100% of the car at the same time. It is NOT true that you own half and he owns half. Both of you share ownership of the WHOLE car 100%. That means that you have the same rights that he does, if your name is on the title.