Trover is a legal remedy for recovering the value of property wrongfully taken, dating back to the 1600s. The plaintiff must prove the property was taken unlawfully, and if successful, the defendant must compensate the plaintiff. Defendants may argue the conversion was lawful or original ownership cannot be confirmed.
Trover is a civil action that a plaintiff can take to recover the value of property taken or appropriated by someone else. If the plaintiff wins the case, the property will not be returned, but the defendant will be obliged to compensate the plaintiff, using a value determined by the court. This legal remedy dates back to the 1600s and is much less prevalent today than it once was, although it is an option for some types of legal cases, depending on the area in which a person wishes to sue. An attorney can provide more information on whether this legal option is available and whether it should be pursued.
In trover cases, the plaintiff proves that the property was wrongfully taken, even if the defendant initially obtained the property under legal circumstances. For example, finding lost items isn’t illegal, but if a person continues to hold the property after receiving proof of ownership, the rightful owner can file a lawsuit. Likewise, a custodian who holds the property after a custodian has satisfied the terms of the bond, or a person who converts the property to personal use after it has been lent or leased to him, may be sued for damages.
In some jurisdictions, before people can bring a trover action, they must first attempt to recapture the property itself. If the person who owns the property refuses to return it and proof of this refusal can be provided, a lawsuit can be proceeded to collect damages. People may also argue that when property has been taken illegally, it has been damaged and they wish to recover the value of the property in its intact form from the person who damaged it or allowed it to be damaged.
In courts that accept trover cases, the judge will consider the facts as presented and make a decision. The plaintiff must be able to prove that the property was taken unlawfully; anyone who gives something away and then decides to ask for it back, for example, cannot sue to recover the object or its value, since the title was given voluntarily. If the judge agrees with the plaintiff, a value will be determined and the defendant will be ordered to pay it.
Defendants may use a number of different arguments in trover cases. They may attempt to prove that while they converted the property to their own use, it was lawful, or that it is impossible to confirm original ownership of the property. In the case of a generic item without an identifying mark such as a serial number, people could point out that the owner has no way to prove the claim that was made in the lawsuit.
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