Uncle wants items back we helped move from his deceased friends apartment

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kmtko21

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In July 2006, my mother phoned me and said that my Uncles friend had passed and he was left executor of his estate and he needed help moving/getting rid of all the things in his apartment. (note: my uncle is in his 70s). I had not seen my uncle in years but I told my mother we would since we had a truck to hall things and I felt sorry for him. We traveled into the city several times to move things from an old apartment on the 3rd floor. We thought we were getting rid of things and maybe keeping a couple of things we could use but really didn't need. All of his belongings smelled awful of cigarette smoke. He offered us a captains bed (no mattress) tall dresser, mirror and dresser with nightstand about 25 years old. We said we couldn't use it, but will put it at our lake home just incase we might one day. He also gave us a lamp, flag pole, new socks, new jean shorts and several other small things to take out of the apartment. On the trip back home and unloading all of the stuff into our garage. The dresser and night stand drawers started falling apart, but we put them in the garage anyway. After a week or 2 it had really smelled up my garage from the cigarette smoke so I started going through everything washing the short, socks etc. I thought my husband and son-in-law could use the clothing for work. But found none of it fit them so I cleaned them up and gave away to amvets along with the dresser since it looked to be in ok shape and maybe someone could fix the drawers and some towels and sheets etc. The bed we took to our lakehome about 2 hours away and noticed that those drawers were also all falling apart and we threw the drawers in the garbage but kept the bed since you could still use without them. In dec. 07 he wrote me a chrismas card asking for the bedroom set back because he needed it. I admit I was a bit flustered since it was over a year later and most of the pieces fell apart and I didn't have all of them and I didn't respond to him. Remember I hadn't talked or seen my uncle in years (at least 10) before we helped him. Well he sent me a in June of 08 saying that his friend paid 1300 for that set some 25 years ago and he knows its quality furniture and wants it back. He said he would get movers to come and get it from my home and give me 100.00 for the bother of taking back from my lakehouse in Indiana to my home in Bolingbrook IL. I called him and told him that the dressers had fallen apart and that I did not have all the pieces. He was upset and said he told us to keep it when we took it. What I don't understand is that he owns an apartment building in the city and the apartment above him is completley empty and has been for years, I asked him if he wanted that stuff why didn't he have us move it there. His response was that he forgot about it. Well we know have to get a truck from someone because we sold our pickup truck the year before. I told him he would have to wait until we could borrow someones and get down there to get it. I called him the week before we were going to get the bed which was this past Sept. while on the phone with him he says he wants back all the shorts, lamp, sheets, flagpole and keeps naming things off he said we took. I don't exactly remember everything that was 2 years ago and I sure did not keep everything either. I went to the lakehouse and picked up anything I could find that we had left to bring back to our home in bolingbrook. We filled the tank in that truck up 3 times before we were done and gave it back. He calls me during the week and says he wants to pick the things up friday instead of Saturday. I told him we wouldnt be home and that my daughter had the dresser and she wouldnt be home. Then he calls back after he talks to the movers again and asks me for more things that he remembered and says they will be there between 11 and 3 on saturday. Well I told him my daughters husband works and would need a specific time they were going to be there. (she lives near me in bolingbrook also so they didn't have to go that far). Well then he calls back again because he thought of more things and I just lost it. My husband phone him and told him we also wanted the 100.00 he offered us in the letter. My uncle said no way because we didn't have all the pieces to the bed. My husband told him to stop calling and aggravating my wife and if the movers don't have the 100.00 to give him then they should bother coming. Well my daughter cleaned out the dresser she was using and put i in her garage for them to pick it up on Saturday. Saturday came and went and they did not show up. Now he is suing us for the items. He said we did him a diservice. I said I did my mother a favor when she asked me to help you. And I though I was helping you. My daughter and I now have things in our garage that we need out so we can put our cars in there for the winter. She called him yesterday 9/21 and told him that she needed the dresser out of her garage or its going to amvets. What do I do? Do we hang on to all that stuff and wait till we get a letter from his lawyer. I don't know what he wants from us. He could have kept all of it in his apartment he has empty but I am thinking it smelled so bad of cigarettes that he wanted us to air it out first
Please advice on my next step
Kt
 
If he sues you, you report in court that your uncle gave you these items over two years ago without any stipulation for you to return them to him, that you've attempted to comply with some of his requests but that a fair number of his demands (?returning sheets? ?shorts?) are unreasonable and that he has not come to pick up the items you have gone to the trouble of getting together for him.

The judge will likely ask him what proof did he have that he asked you only to "babysit" these items for the past couple of years. He'll have none.

Gail
 
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