When Is Personal Property Considered Abandoned

[plainjoe]

I am located in georgia. personal property of a family member (disabled-Father) no longer living with us. Has refused contact due to mental dis-ability and repeated attempts, to include certified letter, to make arrangements to retrieve property. As it is alot of stuff in the way, and has been over a year (14 months), I have remove the items to a outside storage bus,this is not good for some of the items but I have no where to put them. Are the items considered abandoned when you can prove contact and notice was given to make arrangement for the property and the notice was ignored? It was specified that if no answer of attempt was made the items were to be considered abandoned in the letters.

[Mr. Knowitall]

This statute is not 100% on point, as I read it, but it gives you an idea of the timeframe involved:

Except as provided in Article 17B of Title 10, all tangible and intangible property, including any income or increment thereon, less any lawful charges, that is held, issued, or owing in the ordinary course of the holder's business and has remained unclaimed by the owner for more than five years after it became payable or distributable is presumed abandoned, except as otherwise provided by this article. Property is payable or distributable for the purpose of this article notwithstanding the owner's failure to make demand or to present any instrument or document required to receive payment.

There may be a more applicable statute.

If it were me, I would probably bring a standard eviction action and, after obtaining an order of eviction, observe my rights under state law to dispose of the property. (The specifics vary by state.)