Does My Ex Have to Be at Home Before I Can Finish Moving My Things Out of Our Apt

My question involves personal property located in the State of: Tennessee

My ex-fiance and I had an apartment together for over 3 years. We had a dispute and I have been staying at my moms house with our two children for the past few weeks. I have been removing clothing and neccessities from the apartment from time to time over the past few weeks but haven't "moved" out completely. When I told him I was going to be permanently moving out he got mad and informed me that since I hadn't "lived" there in the past 30 days that by law I could not enter the premisis without him being there and that he would press charges on me for breaking and entering if I was to try to get my things in his absence.

I am trying to find out if there are such laws or if this is just another attempt from him to try to "control" me and the situation. There is no actual "lease" for the apt, but the utilities (water/lights) are still currently in my name and I still have my key (unless he has changed the locks).

Any help would be appreciated.

What do you mean, "there is no actual lease"? Have you ceased paying rent?

There is no law that says you cannot return to your own home without the other tenant being there if you've been gone for 30 days.

You might also consider contacting local police when you're heading there to pick up your things and ask them to do a "domestic standby". They certainly can't sit there all day while you pack and fill a UHaul, but if you're just going over to grab a few things, throw some stuff in boxes, etc. then you're better off to have them close by to avoid any confrontation and to deter accusations that you showed up and destroyed property, etc.

Unless he has had you formally (in court) evicted from the premises, law enforcement isn't going to get involved beyond telling him to get an attorney if he thinks any damage was done or items of questionable ownership taken.

LawResearcherMissy:

When we moved into the apartment we never had to sign a lease. We had to pay rent by a certain day each month but there was no written contract between us and the landlord so that's why I say there was no lease.