Abandoned camper claimed by mom may be up for grabs.

Q: I live in Alberta Canada. On August 11, 2011 my son and his girlfriend unloaded a camper (hers) in my yard. They didn’t ask but he is my son. They have now separated. Can I withhold the camper from her as it is on my property and in 2 days will have been left there for 90 days.

A: We can’t really answer a question about Canadian law. You’ll have to rely on the advice you might get from a lawyer in Canada. In the United States, you’d have to determine whether the camper has been abandoned or has simply been placed on your property.

If the camper has clearly been abandoned, you might have rights to it and might have the ability to dispose of it.

However, you seemed to imply that they left the camper but had the intent on retrieving it at a later date. If that’s the case, the camper would still be owned by your son and his girlfriend.

Have you asked your son to take the camper off your property and to deal with the issue with his former girlfriend? Rather than make the camper your problem, it should still be his issue to deal with. If you can get him to remove the camper, he then can deal with his ex-girlfriend and any issues they may have.

You can also check with your local police department and find out what options they would suggest for you. However, their suggestions might be to have the camper towed away from your property and you seem to want to “withhold” the camper. By withholding the camper are you looking for something in return or is your idea that you want the camper for yourself or to sell it?

Your answers to these questions would control how you deal with the issue you have with the camper and with your son’s former girlfriend. But you need to find out what your rights are under the laws of Canada before you know how to proceed, because as a consumer advice person in the United States, you need to seek out that information up there.