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Expert
Posts: 1255
    
| My father was a sculpture he made Paul Bunyan and several other life size statues along with small statues carved out of wood mostly cowboy and Indians and his carvings were placed in a museum on loan for years and mom took them out before she died to make sure we got them so after she died I went up to get some and my sister said they were accidentally thrown out but I know they weren't so I've been trying to find them for years and finally found them but can't find my Dads will and it's not registered with the court house is there any way I can get them back?
Edited by myhre 2020-11-20 3:15 PM
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
    
| I'm not a lawyer, but you need one. I think you could get them back if there was reasonable proof that your dad created them. Pictures of him building/creating them, pictures of when they were donated to the museum, records of them at the museum and the return to your mom, etc. However, if your sister sold them, and there's no physical evidence that states who they truly belonged to, you might be better off letting them go. You'll get in so deep financially trying to win that battle, that it may not be worth it. Good luck |
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Expert
Posts: 1255
    
| There's proof he made them he was in the newspaper several times about it and I hate to just let them go it was all he had to give us |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2930
       Location: North Dakota | myhre - 2020-11-20 2:44 PM
My father was a sculpture he made Paul Bunyan and several other life size statues along with small statues carved out of wood mostly cowboy and Indians and his carvings were placed in a museum on loan for years and mom took them out before she died to make sure we got them so after she died I went up to get some and my sister said they were accidentally thrown out but I know they weren't so I've been trying to find them for years and finally found them but can't find my Dads will and it's not registered with the court house is there any way I can get them back?
I'm not sure how/what you are going to prove that your sister is lying when she said they were thrown out. Do you expect to get a police officer to allow you to search her home? Under what grounds? If you have no court documents that say that the sculptures were YOURS and not your sisters, I have no idea how you would get any sort of court order to go search her house for them. There's no proof they were yours. Were one of you in charge of your mother's estate? Who legally has power of your mother's possessions? Why are they yours, and not your sisters? I am not a lawyer but I think it sounds like you are out of luck. It does not sound like you have any legal documentation to prove they were yours, and that won't give you any rights under the courts to search for sculptures that may or may not be there. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
              Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | No advice from me, but just wanted to say good luck to you, I know that this is very important to you so I hope that you find what you are looking for.  |
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Expert
Posts: 1255
    
| There's seven kids but nobody else in the family wants them and the proof is the rest of family can back up what I say but I wouldn't get police involved with family |
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Expert
Posts: 1255
    
| Thank you it is very very important to me Dad the Ford Mustang horse which is what the emblem was copied from he made Bobs Big Boy A and w root beer family but the things he made out of wood were more personal I've watched him carve a lot and in his will he said that was all he had to give his kids yet he was so strict that the rest of the family don't want them |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2930
       Location: North Dakota | myhre - 2020-11-22 1:05 AM
There's seven kids but nobody else in the family wants them and the proof is the rest of family can back up what I say but I wouldn't get police involved with family
You didn't answer my earlier question so I am assuming there are no legal documents of any kind that say who the sculptures were supposed to go to. You don't want to get the police involved, but you are willing to go to court? (If you get a court judgement, often the police do have to get involved in order to carry out court orders such as return of property.) What your other siblings "say" won't matter in a court of law. You asked for legal advice. I'm sorry to say that if you don't have legal documentation to prove they were YOURS, you don't have anything to back you up on court. What's to stop her from claiming they were hers? Why would you have more right than she does? I'm asking hard questions because these are going to come up if you pursue this. And if you wish to pursue this, you will need to contact an attorney of your own because we do not know all the details, such as who was in charge of the estate, power of attorney, if your mother had a will (after she had possession of them), etc. etc. etc. |
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  "Mom"
     
| Where are you located? Depends on the laws of the state. Let me ask my daughter - she is a lawyer :) |
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Expert
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| This took place in Washington state and I now live in New Mexico. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12837
       
| Southtxponygirl - 2020-11-21 4:19 PM
No advice from me, but just wanted to say good luck to you, I know that this is very important to you so I hope that you find what you are looking for. 
Power of attorney ends when someone dies. |
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