Columbus, OH asked in Family Law and Civil Litigation for North Carolina

Q: My 39 year old son finally moved out but he left all of his stuff behind. Can I legally discard all of his belongings?

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2 Lawyer Answers
Amanda Bowden Johnson
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Answered
  • Jacksonville, NC
  • Licensed in North Carolina

A: Yes, but there are some steps you will likely need to follow. You are likely in a bailment situation where you will be required to take reasonable care of his property for some period of time and to provide him with formal notice to make arrangements to pick it up. If so, typically 30 days is sufficient time. So make sure his stuff is in a safe place, send him written notice to come pick it up within 30 days if he doesn't you can sell it and / or throw it away. If you want, you can move all his stuff into a storage unit and make it a condition of picking up his property that he reimburse you for the cost of moving and storage. Sometimes you can work out a deal with the storage facility to pay for 30 days at the end on which if he hasn't reimbursed you and picked up his stuff, they will take the steps to notify your son to pick up his property and will auction off the contents of the storage unit if he doesn't. Best of luck.

Angela L. Haas
Angela L. Haas
Answered
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Licensed in North Carolina

A: Give him 10 days to remove it.

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