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Property

How can I get my belongings from family member's home? (no mention of an RO)

You mentioned wanting to retrieve your belongings - is there a protection order in place that is keeping you from being able to contact the family member? In general, if there is a protection order in place, the respondent may need to go to court to ask the judge to include a specific date and time that the respondent can retrieve his/her belongings with a police escort (if this was not already included in the order).

If there is no protection order in place but someone doesn’t feel safe going into a home where s/he was staying to retrieve belongings, in some states, the police will do what they call a civil stand-by where the police will wait outside or accompany the person into the home. I am not sure if this would be an option in your situation or not.

Lastly, if someone is wrongfully keeping another person’s items, s/he may go to small claims court to ask the judge to order the return of the property or the monetary value of it. Here is a link to small claims court information in STATE in case that is useful: LINK And here is a link for free legal services if you want legal advice: LINK