Mother not willing to hand over possessions

[Zaac]

Hi all,

This is my first post here and a subject very sensitive to myself personally...

Cut a long story short i was born with a cystichygroma and my mother has 3 photo albums of my pictures.

We fell out when i was 17 due to a very bad upbringing again cutting a longer story short she beat me black and blue for farting too loud...

She is refusing to hand over these photographs that are of me that i am sure i have every right to have at least a copy of if not the originals.

I want to know where i stand legally with this as i am so hellbent on getting hold of them i am going to see a solicitor but don't want to be going in without having some sort of advice from here to find out where i stand. She is a real nasty piece of work.

My eldest was born with Cystic Fibrosis and when he gets old enough to realise whats going on i want my pictures to be there so i can show him i wasn't born perfect and learnt to come to terms with my problem which is just a chip out an iceberg compared to him but i want him to be like me and see that i wasn't scared and took the bull by the horns and used all the help that was available to me. Those photographs do exactly that and i really want them.

I really hope there is something i can do

[fuzzybrain]

Re: Mother not willing to hand over possessions

Welcome to Legal Beagles and the forums xx

[fuzzybrain]

Re: Mother not willing to hand over possessions

I am really sorry but I can't offer any advice on your legal stance but on a personal level I can relate and deeply sympathise with your situation as if you mother is anything like my mother in law, she rather burn the albums than allow us to have any personal keepsakes. In fact if she knew we wanted anything like this fom her she'd burn them and send us the ashes!!! My MIL didn't even tell us when my husband dad died and refused to tell us when the funeral was - all because my husband didn't ask her permission to marry me before he asked me. - Sorry not relevant to your post and i'm ranting - opps!!!

Is there a family member who could borrow these albums under the pretence of needing them for themselves and then make copies of all the photos for you without her knowing the photos are actually for you - just incase she is of the same vicious petty mind as my MIL?

I wish you the very best of luck and sincerely hope get the result you want as these photos are obviously very precious to you and your family and an important part of your personal and family history. xx

[Zaac]

Re: Mother not willing to hand over possessions

There is no way of getting these copies apart from the wicked witch herself lol

[Celestine]

Re: Mother not willing to hand over possessions

If the pictures 'belong' to your mother, then I'm not sure you can legally challenge her in any way sadly.

I have a similar estrangement situation with my own mother and oddly enough, I have a large box of family photos that I plan to copy and return the originals to her via an intermediary. I haven't been asked to but I just feel old photographs are sacrosanct and should be shared for everyones sake, so I really sympathise with your plight.

[fuzzybrain]

Re: Mother not willing to hand over possessions

Darn!! the next bit of advice is probably not the correct advice and if i am suggesting an illegal course of action (such as burgulary!!!) somebody please say so!! Is there any chance you have a key to her home and pop by when you know she's not around and borrow the albums, get them copied asap and return them before she realises that the albums had a little outing??


The sensible advice (and less chance of getting you arrested for burgulary!!) is that as a first step you should write to the the wicked witch asking if she would allow you to borrow the albums for a set amount of time so you could copy the photographs you want.

If she says no then i'm afraid legal action may be your only option but i'm not sure that the albums are your property - you would need to demonstrate to the judge that you had rightful ownership of them but at least you could show you have tried to be reasonable and this may help if you end up in a small claims court battle with her.

[Zaac]

Re: Mother not willing to hand over possessions

Unfortunately i do not have a key lol...