Wife took items belonging to parents...

[Paul-q6p4g]

I've been separated from my wife for 6 months, and she's already moved out of the home.
Around the same time my parents moved back to the UK from Spain and left a few things with me to look after...

It seems my wife (who I'm divorcing at the moment) popped back to the house whilst I was with my parents over Christmas and has taken a load of their items... thinks like a decent Bose system, my dads DSLR camera and all his lenses, a good coffee grinder... any idea if this would be classed as theft? I'm worried that if I call the police they will deal with it as a civil issue, not a criminal one?

Thanks in advance

[Steve Campbell]

How did she get in ?

[GT03ROB]

Theft

[TimmyMallett]

[devils advocate] Can you prove it was her?

[Paul-q6p4g]

She arrived with a locksmith according to the CCTV, and swapped the locks too. I also have proof that she now has the camera for example.

[Boosted LS1]

OP, can you ask her for them back, thus proving she has them. Assuming she admits she does.

[esxste]

It's not clear whether you're in Spain or the UK. Laws around theft/marriage are likely to be different.

Step 1 is to gather the evidence the taken items belong to your parents.

Step 2 depends on the relationship between you and soon-to-be-ex wife; either:
a. explain to soon-to-be-ex wife that the items are your parents, and they expect them back
or
b. report the theft to police, and provide the evidence that these are not your items, to which soon-to-be-ex wife might have claim on.

The devil I suspect will be in if you can prove they are your parents items, and not yours.

[Paul-q6p4g]

Thanks guys. All UK based - they bought them in the UK as they also had a property here too.

Will speak to the police and see what proof of purchase my folks have.

Thanks!

[esxste]

Paul-q6p4g said:

Thanks guys. All UK based - they bought them in the UK as they also had a property here too.

Will speak to the police and see what proof of purchase my folks have.

Thanks!

Proof of purchase is not necessarily proof of ownership. I.e, they could have bought these for you as gifts. While you're married, whats yours is also hers generally speaking, and the police will consider it a civil issue if they think the items are yours.

You need to prove your parents own these items, because when the police visit soon-to-be-ex wife, she will undoubtedly claim they are jointly owned items belonging to you both.

[Bigends]

esxste said:

Proof of purchase is not necessarily proof of ownership. I.e, they could have bought these for you as gifts. While you're married, whats yours is also hers generally speaking, and the police will consider it a civil issue if they think the items are yours.

You need to prove your parents own these items, because when the police visit soon-to-be-ex wife, she will undoubtedly claim they are jointly owned items belonging to you both.

If property taken belongs to the OP or the parents then she has no right to take them, same as jointly owned property in which case neither party can take the items without the consent of the co-owner - in both cases - theft - and Police should record and deal accordingly

[Red 4]

Paul-q6p4g said:

Will speak to the police and see what proof of purchase my folks have.

The first thing the police will ask is have your parents asked for the items back ?

[mjb1]

Red 4 said:

Paul-q6p4g said:

Will speak to the police and see what proof of purchase my folks have.

The first thing the police will ask is have your parents asked for the items back ?

And if anyone going to the police it should be your parents rather than you. They're possibly more likely to take the matter more seriously than husband/wife matter.

Was anything else removed from the house at the same time, or just your parents possessions?

[Alucidnation]

Decent Bose?

[Derek Smith]

mjb1 said:

And if anyone going to the police it should be your parents rather than you. They're possibly more likely to take the matter more seriously than husband/wife matter.

Was anything else removed from the house at the same time, or just your parents possessions?

The theft is from you. You had possession of the items.

My advice for the matter to be taken seriously is to ask for said items to be returned. If she refuses, either by an outright statement or not doing so, then go to the police. At the moment her lawyer will be able to put a great defence to theft.

[anonymous-user]

Paul-q6p4g said:

She arrived with a locksmith according to the CCTV, and swapped the locks too. I also have proof that she now has the camera for example.

So you’re locked out of your house now?

[Rick101]

Another one for the PH Divorce list.

[Gavia]

Paul-q6p4g said:

I've been separated from my wife for 6 months, and she's already moved out of the home.
Around the same time my parents moved back to the UK from Spain and left a few things with me to look after...

It seems my wife (who I'm divorcing at the moment) popped back to the house whilst I was with my parents over Christmas and has taken a load of their items... thinks like a decent Bose system, my dads DSLR camera and all his lenses, a good coffee grinder... any idea if this would be classed as theft? I'm worried that if I call the police they will deal with it as a civil issue, not a criminal one?

Thanks in advance

OP. You’re a dreamer. You started a thread not long ago with some fanciful stuff about ruining your wife’s career because she wasn’t paying the mortgage and then deleted the whole story. Here’s another story, hence me quoting it.

You’ve forgotten to mention that she works in law this time round.

[Red 4]

Gavia said:

OP. You’re a dreamer. You started a thread not long ago with some fanciful stuff about ruining your wife’s career because she wasn’t paying the mortgage and then deleted the whole story. Here’s another story, hence me quoting it.

You’ve forgotten to mention that she works in law this time round.

It sounds like the op is out for revenge.
There was no mention of asking his ex for the stuff back - which would be the first and most obvious thing to do.
A word to the wise - don't try getting the police involved if you are playing games.
It never ends well.

[Pericoloso]

Bets on when thread or OP deleted ?

[Paul-q6p4g]

Well thanks to some of you for the advice...

Yes, my ex works in law, and yes she stopped paying anything towards the mortgage so I was looking for ways to encourage her to pay again. It was mentioned to me by a friend also in law that the SRA doesn't look to fondly on lawyers intentionally getting into debt or mismanaging their finances so I looked into raising that issue with my ex. But I have no way to communicate with her directly now so contacting the SRA (well, CILEX it turns out) would be the only way. Why this is a bad thing I don't know - lawyers are supposed to be reputable and ethically sound, so when they're not it's a bad move right?

So as well as refusing to pay towards the house, she still wants half of the house and has even said she wants the future value to be considered (comical!) and the icing on the cake was her entering the house while I was away and clearing it completely - not even a knife and fork was left.

I'm only asking for advice as I've never gone through this before.

Edited by dinosaur.mod on Friday 19th January 20:33