A
female
age
51-59,
anonymous
writes:I dated a guy for 1 year and 6 months the lease was in my name and he moved in with me. He ended up abusing me and hit my son only once it took and I called the law and he was put in jail. I had bruses and so did my child. He is looking at prison time and is trying to scare me so I don't testify against him in court. My Ex's dad came and picked up his belongings I took pictures of the truck leaving full of his items and they do not know i took those pic's. Now he is in jail but taking me to court stating he didn't get all of his things. He is trying to get my furniture and stuff claiming it is his. In the state of Indiana what is the break up law if we had only been together a short period and the lease was in my name not his? I am sure this is just a scare tactic to show me he is in charge. Come to find out he has a crimnal back ground and had been charged with theft and many other things. Does he have any rights to my belongings? Its he says she says kind of thing. It looks as if he will not be getting out of jail they are talking he will be doing 8 yrs for Parole vilation and then what ever he gets for hitting my son and I...Do I need to worry about him taking me to court and getting my things? I am in the state of Indiana...Advice please!!!!
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female
reader, BunnyTee +, writes (22 June 2010):
 It sounds as though you should consider obtaining qualified, legal advice.
I'll offer you what I know, but it's not specific to Indiana so take it for what it's worth.
Generally speaking, possession is 9/10ths of the law. I don't know where the "10ths" part comes from but the 9 represents the 9 points of the law: lease agreements, rental agreements, receipts, anything that qualifies as proof of ownership. Things like your clothes, the linens, money, high value collectibles, etc are "non-represented ownership" items. Large ticket items like TV, stereo, appliances usually have a paper trail of some kind to prove who bought it, credit card or check card transaction records, warranty registrations, things like that. If you keep good records this is a slam dunk. If not, prepare now. Gather anything that shows you own your stuff.
The burden of proof of ownership lies largely upon him. If he tries to launch a civil suit to recover his property from you, then virtually any court will require that he provides absolute proof that he owned the item without any vested interest from you. This is probably just noise-making on a criminal's part. Unless he launches a "long term co-habitant's" suit claiming he's entitled to the monetary equivalent of his interests in paying for part of more of the household's furnishings/contents/maintenance and upgrades. It's not so very different from a divorce proceeding's property settlement. But at a year and a half I can't see where that's even viable. Be prepared and get proper legal help if he serves you with a civil action.
As I said, this is probably just noise-making from a deadbeat going down for the third time.
A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (22 June 2010): Not a nice mess. You need to consult with a local lawyer. if you have bills or credit card statements that show you bought the furniture before he moved in. good for you for taking the pictures.
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A
male
reader, AvgGuy1 +, writes (22 June 2010):
 I hate to say this... but this is probably NOT the kind of place to find this information/advice. Use google and lookup: Indiana common law marriage. Should be a good starting point for you.
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