We had a similar situation with a grand piano that has become a family heirloom.
When my father-in-law and his sister were kids, their parents bought them a baby grand piano and arranged piano lessons for both. My FIL's sister showed no aptitude for, or interest in, playing the piano. My FIL, on the other hand, became an excellent piano player, played a piano in a dance band at one time, and became a church organist.
All of these years, the piano was in my FIL's possession. He paid for periodic tuning and upkeep. Time passed, both my FIL and his sister raised families, were eventually overtaken by old age, and passed away. As my wife is an only child, upon her parents deaths the piano was passed on to her. It is now in our house.
Now the interesting part. While a cousin of my wife's (the son of my FIL's sister) was visiting from out of state about 10 years ago, he made an offhand comment that he was glad we'd taken such good care of "his mother's" piano over the years. It was obvious he considered the piano his, with us merely being caretakers. Nothing further was said at the time, but I immediately talked to our attorney.
Our attorney's opinion was, "Possession is nine points of the law. The piano has been in your father-in-law's possession all these years, and now yours. Your wife's cousin has never once offered to share in the cost of tuning and maintenance. As far as I'm concerned, it's your piano. If your wife's cousin ever seriously tries to claim it, hit him with 60 year's storage at $1200 per year."
Didn't mean to get long winded, but assuming there was at least a number of years that your neighbor's father could have retrieved the item, had he felt he still owned it, I'd say the first thing you need to do with your neighbor is discuss the price of the repairs that were made and 20 year's storage.
I'd also say get it resolved soon. No point in letting it fester for another 20 years.
(Our problem solved itself when the cousin croaked fairly young several years ago).
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - Old Time Threshing - by Anthony West. A lovely harvest evening late September 1947, I was a school boy, like all school boys I loved harvest time. The golden corn ripens well and early, the stoking, stacking,.... the drawing in with the tractors and trailers and a few buck rakes thrown in, and possibly a heavy horse. It would be a great day for the collies and the terrier dogs, rats and mice would be at the bottom of the stacks so the dogs, would have a busy time hunting and killing, all the corn was gathered and ricked in what we c
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
1964 I-H 140 tractor with cultivators and sidedresser. Starts and runs good. Asking 2650. CALL RON AT 502-319-1952
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.
