# who owns my laptop?



## sparx (Jun 28, 2008)

heres my story so far...

as of now, i have been grounded for six months now from my acer aspire dual core (250GB hardrive, 2GB DDR2...)etc....my expensive laptop.

now, ive been kicked out of the house for being gay, and the laptop stayed at home, with my mother. I'd be fine saying that 'its just a laptop, and i can buy another one', but it has all of the memories (loved ones, perished family members, good times, bad time) from the last 6 years of my life (I'm 16) and the laptop means so much to me. i need it more than i need a home.

i am totally willing to bring the police into this (and im hoping to) but im not sure if i can. 
my mom is the one who bought the laptop, on Christmas. then she physically gave it to me (and the store it came from can confirm that). in addition, the computer name is under my name (or my nickname) and all of my files are on there. so basically, everything on the laptop is mine, but the only thing preventing me from getting the police in on this is the fact that my mom is the one who bought it.  

now what am i legally allowed to do with this? ~(tilts head)~


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## hillbilly guy (Jun 28, 2008)

well i think by law thay cant kick you out yet so you might beable to just go get it sneak in or something but what you wher sayin sounds right its your because it was a gift at most you got to go to small clames cort i aint thare so i cant realy under stand the situation 

i aint no juge or nutin so dont take my word on any thing i end up figureing out the law by wheather i get caught or not so good luck and keep a stiff uper lip


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## Ty Vulpine (Jun 28, 2008)

Yes, your parents are responsible for you until you turn 18, so they're breaking the law by doing that.


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## Drakaji (Jun 28, 2008)

From my understanding of the law. A parent cannot force you to leave the house as they are responsible for you until you turn 18.
Furthermore, they legally own everything of yours so they could do what they want with it.
Finally, if worse comes to worse, you can have a court emancipate you from your parents making you legally responsible for yourself and all your belongings.


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## Pi (Jun 28, 2008)

> my mom is the one who bought the laptop



You lose.


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## hillbilly guy (Jun 28, 2008)

i was watchin juge judy and it had the same thing as this it was prety mutch went like this some one bought a tv as a gift and gave it to thir girl friend and thay broke up and he tried to get it back but sence it was a gift it was no longer his so the girl got it the guy had reseats and everything but he still lost so going off of this it is still your labtop so i stick with what i said before and just go get it thay cant do any thing to you you cant get arested becuse its yours and you still leagaly live thare so the law is on your side i think


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## Pi (Jun 28, 2008)

hillbilly guy said:


> i was watchin juge judy and it had the same thing as this it was prety mutch went like this some one bought a tv as a gift and gave it to thir girl friend and thay broke up and he tried to get it back but sence it was a gift it was no longer his so the girl got it the guy had reseats and everything but he still lost so going off of this it is still your labtop so i stick with what i said before and just go get it thay cant do any thing to you you cant get arested becuse its yours and you still leagaly live thare so the law is on your side i think









These buttons are important.


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## hillbilly guy (Jun 28, 2008)

Pi said:


> These buttons are important.


 
sorry, il try and remember but i refuse to put a g at the end of words like runing, talking ext.  the same thing my Teachers yelled at me about its the way i talk so thats the way i will wright at least on blogs and as dialog.


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## LonelyFox (Jun 28, 2008)

yah they have to take you back in or theyl get in deep shit with the government, and thus it is yours. as soon as you turn 18, the laptop is yours and they cant stop you, it was given as a gift XD


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## Pi (Jun 28, 2008)

LonelyFox said:


> as soon as you turn 18, the laptop is yours and they cant stop you, it was given as a gift XD



I don't think that is technically the case, but I am not a lawyer.


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## Magica (Jun 28, 2008)

Your mom bought it, and if she has the receipt to prove it, then it's hers.

But I'd worry more about finding a home and a job to take care of yourself than a laptop, whether or not you're attached to it.


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## nrr (Jun 28, 2008)

You know, I generally don't enable folks, but for this one time, I'll make an exception.



sparx said:


> as of now, i have been grounded for six months now from my acer aspire dual core (250GB hardrive, 2GB DDR2...)etc....my expensive laptop.


OK?



			
				sparx said:
			
		

> now, ive been *kicked out of the house* for being gay, and the laptop stayed at home, with my mother. I'd be fine saying that 'its just a laptop, and i can buy another one', but it has all of the memories (loved ones, perished family members, good times, bad time) from the last 6 years of my life (*I'm 16*) and the laptop means so much to me. i need it more than i need a home.


Emphasis mine.  Those two things are generally bad.  That's a DCFS matter.

As far as the laptop goes, I'm not exactly sure what to say.  I would've kept backups of the important things and stashed them someplace, but that's just me.  Just consider this your first lesson in data loss and data management and learn from it.  If your mother concedes with you and allows you, at the very least, to retrieve your data from the machine and potentially do any last-minute housekeeping, consider yourself lucky.

Now, on the other hand, there is this: If you are evicted from a place of residence (this applies in Illinois at least, YMMV) without due notice, your landlord or equivalent property owner in similar capacity must give you 30 calendar days to do two things: 1) retrieve your belongings from the premises, and 2) file a change of address form with the USPS.



			
				sparx said:
			
		

> now what am i legally allowed to do with this? ~(tilts head)~


Talk to DCFS and tell them that your legal guardian has ejected you despite your being underage.


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## Tilt (Jun 29, 2008)

I request this thread be moved to Rants and Raves.


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## reigoskeiter (Jun 29, 2008)

i think u will have to hire an spy or secretly sneak in the house at night
like in an movie xD


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## Magnus (Jun 29, 2008)

fool! buy a new laptop and trade it with your mother -.-


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## reigoskeiter (Jun 29, 2008)

Magnus said:


> fool! buy a new laptop and trade it with your mother -.-


 

wow that was clever


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## WarMocK (Jun 29, 2008)

reigoskeiter said:


> wow that was clever


Well, if he tried trading it with an Eee PC and his mom fell for it ... ^^
Just install some nice eye-candy on it and say it would be a new and super-mega-powerfull subnotebook. }:->


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## reigoskeiter (Jun 29, 2008)

WarMocK said:


> Well, if he tried trading it with an Eee PC and his mom fell for it ... ^^
> Just install some nice eye-candy on it and say it would be a new and super-mega-powerfull subnotebook. }:->


 
and say that there are fancy clips waiting ^^


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## Kilroy (Jun 29, 2008)

I'm not claiming to be a lawyer or anything, but given that you claim you're 16, I think because you're still a minor they would legally be considered the legal owners of the laptop (based on various information I've gathered about minors rights and ownership, though it didn't cover computers). I could be wrong though, and not knowing your legal state (or country, if you're not a US resident) of residence I can't get any solid info on this. However, I do believe your parents are not legally allowed to kick you out of your home without due cause or without making other arrangements while you are still a minor. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_the_parents_'kick'_a_16-year-old_out_of_the_home

May or may not be accurate though. Either way, I'd definitely take it up with the local police about being forced from the house.


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