My son in law is in jail and his wife left and went to California. She gave her boyfriend here in Indiana power of attorney to sell things for her. Now there is a scooter they both bought for him to use and he has sold it to my wife and I. Does that power of attorney give her boyfriend the right to refuse to give it to us? We have a signed Bill of Sale that a county police officer watched my son in law sign. What would we be able to do in this situation?
I’m confused. Should this “he” be a “she”?
No. She can still make deals on her own behalf. The question, insofar as I understand what you are asking, is does she have the right to independently sell something that is (or appears to be) jointly owned. Is that right?
I’m reading it as “son-in-law and wife bought scooter for son; SiL sold scooter to OP; SiL is gone, wife gave boyfriend PoA; boyfriend is refusing to turn over scooter that belongs to OP”.
Am I correct in thinking that “wife” would be OP’s daughter?
If the bill of sale is valid (i.e., SiL had the right to sell property they held in common), then I’d think that boyfriend would have to cough up the scooter. But you should probably ask an actual attorney in your location, who would actually know these things.
Because I’m just guessing.
I’m having trouble parsing exactly who is doing what.
I do know that a power of attorney is designed to let the POA holder act on behalf of another as if they were that other person.
Therefore, I don’t think the POA changes the answer to the question here. If X can refuse a transfer of property, then X’s POA can refuse the transfer of property. If X can’t, X’s POA can’t either.
Whether it’s legal to change your mind on a sale, or whether a joint owner can refuse a sale initiated by the other owner… those are issues for someone with more legal knowledge than me.
Also keep in mind that Power of Attorney = energy of attorney / time.
I guess what I am saying is that the scooter is marital property and I think my son in law should be able to sell said scooter. What I believe the wife gave the power of attorney to her boyfriend for was to sell two cars that were in her name. When said wife moved she sold most everything that both had accumulated during the marriage. So its my believe that my son in law can sell something from the marriage also without her bf as power of attorney can refuse to release to us because the wife says no we cant have it. And yes our bill of sale for the scooter is legal.
Ask the boyfriend to fax you a copy of the Power of Attorney. You’d like to see what specific powers have been conveyed. But even if power to dispose of all property has been conveyed, it still doesn’t mean that the attorney-in-fact (the boyfriend) can prevent the rightful owner of the property from disposing of it in any way they want.
This second issue - i.e., who is the rightful owner of the property - is the more complicated one and will depend on all your local laws regarding sales of property from a marriage etc. The scooter will presumably be registered in someone’s name, so that someone should be able to sell it with little hindrance.
The scooter is not registered to anyone. In Indiana 50cc or less scooters do not need a title or be registered for the road.
Your daughter and her husband paid for the scooter, the intention being that he would be the one to use it?
You could analyse this two ways:
(a) It’s the husband’s scooter. The wife was effectively making him a gift when she helped to pay for it. Husbands and wives give one another gifts all the time.
(b) It belongs to them jointly. The fact that he was the one to use it doesn’t make it his any more than, say, the family TV would be his if the wife rarely or never watched TV. And, if it belongs to them jointly, then they need to sell it jointly, unless they have agreed that either or both of them can sell it singly.
Which is it? Well, that depends on what they intended when they bought the scooter, or what they would have intended if somebody had asked them and they’d been forced to think about it.
There’s not much point in asking them now, though. He obviously thinks it’s his to sell, because he’s sold it. She, presumably, doesn’t think it was his to sell, because her attorney is holding onto it, presumably on her instructions or with her knowledge. In these circumstances, it is unlikely that they will now agree on what they intended.
What can you do? Well, legally, you can sue your son-in-law to get your money back. Good luck with that. Or you can sue your daughter, and her attorney, for possession of the scooter. To win, you’ll have to establish that your son-in-law owned the scooter outright, or that he had authority to sell on behalf of the joint owners. Good luck with that too. Plus, you’ll want to consider whether suing your daughter might not make the next family get-together a bit frosty.
Practically, what you can do is talk to your daughter, and persuade her to tell her attorney to hand over the scooter. She’s your daughter; does she really want to fall out with you over a scooter?
Yes the intention was for him to use the scooter as in Indiana you don’t need a drivers license to use it on the road. Sad thing is she has sold everything they had owned jointly without his knowledge leaving him with only his clothes.
The son-in-law needs to talk to his attorney fast. One way or another, you should get your money or the cycle. If you have a bill of sale, it must show the owner of it. Who does it say?