In message , Max writes
"Fred" wrote in message
.. .

"Richard Miller" wrote in message
news
In message , Max writes
Hi

My divorce was finalised a few months ago and now my ex-wife says she
would
like some of her things which she left behind - she didn't specify what
exactly she was after. We didn't part on good terms (due to her
behaviour)
and I said that she can't have anything, since she had plenty of time to
take anything she wanted before she'd moved out and since she didn't ask
for
anything after she'd moved out.

She is now talking of contacting her lawyer in order to gain access to
those
things. Since we are legally divorced, is she entitled to do so?

Thank you for any help.


Yes.

She is also entitled to report you to the police for theft if you refuse
to hand over everything that is hers, and a jury would be entitled to
convict you.

Are you serious?

One hundred per cent.

The definition of theft is "dishonestly appropriating property belonging
to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it".

In the scenario described, you are depriving your ex of property that
you acknowledge belongs to her, and according to your OP, have no
intention of handing it over, hence permanently depriving.

That only leaves dishonest. You know the property is hers. You are
refusing to return it not because you think you own it but because you
don't want her to have it back and you want to cause her hassle. In that
scenario it is highly probable that any jury would find that you are
being dishonest.


Without an order what determines who owns what? I thought for married
couples or divorced ones without a financial settlement order it was a
grey
subject in that either party can have a claim, or part claim, on any
asset.

*After* the divorce is final? I thought claims for property had to be
sorted out before the final divorce settlement.

Regardless of that, nothing in the proceedings causes ownership to
transfer from one party to the other unless a court makes an order to
that effect or there is a clear agreement to that effect. Merely having
failed to collect belongings at an earlier stage does not serve to
transfer ownership to you.

If you want to find yourself embroiled in further legal proceedings, and
stirring up further bitterness, no one can stop you. My advice to you
is, don't do it. It is not worth it. It will not give you any
satisfaction, regardless of what you might think at the moment, and it
certainly won't help you put a bad relationship behind you and get on
with the rest of your life.
--
Richard Miller