Sos - aussies in need of assistance

[sarriba]

Sorry to bother everyone with this but we are feeling quite desparate at the moment and this thread is not something you would normally see on YBW. We are in Gibraltar in the marina. We had a wonderful day out with some lovely elderly people we met here. They took us to Lidl etc. When we returned we were met with the Police boat blocking our path (if we were to do a runner) 2 police on the wharf and the sherrif and marina manager. They presented us with an arrest warrant for our beautiful girl. A disgruntled and very mentally unwell ex-girlfriend of my husband (before we were married of course) who has never accepted their relationship ending etc has decided after 3 years of my husband owning this yacht, that she would make a claim to it as 'beneficial owner'. She has no paper work what so ever. We have all the paper work, bill of sale, registration for an
Australian ship etc. Everything in order. All she has is that they took the money out of her account the day they bought the boat. We are seeing a lawyer on Monday. As you could probably understand, we are beside ourselves, not sleeping or eating and trying to get our heads around this. How is it that when we haver all the paperwork etc, how can anyone make a claim to someones property? Our Aussie Registration states that it is like a deed or title to the boat and all 65 shares on the bill of sale is in my husbands name. At no point is HER name on any document or paper relating to this vessel. Has anyone got any suggestions or have you heard of anything like this happening anywhere before?
We will be happy to hear from anyone.... Thanks fellow Yachties, us guys have to stick together in hard times....

 

[Sandyman]

Hi

Having read your post my initial thoughts were why has no one replied yet !!!!

Who has been arrested ? Can only assume you mean your boat !!! but how can you arrest a boat ?? Do you mean (she) the boat has been impounded ??

Your fears may be unfounded and from what I read into your situation you have little if anything to worry about. Even if funds were taken from her account then surely she will have to prove they were used in part or fully to pay for the yacht. She may well claim that she was unaware of the procedure used in the purchase/sale of a yacht & hence allowed the shares to be put solely in your hubbys name...............could that be the case ?
At the end of the day you may need to prove where all the funds came from to purchase her.
If all is legit and you can prove that then she has no claim as far as I can see.

Will be interesting to hear what your solicitor advises.

 

[chinita]

I read it this morning but felt I had nothing constructive to say, knowing nothing about Gibraltar or Australian law.

I hope that one of the Gib residents may have some input.

 

[Sandyman]

I read it this morning but felt I had nothing constructive to say, knowing nothing about Gibraltar or Australian law.

I hope that one of the Gib residents may have some input.

I felt the same Chinita but also that someone had to get the ball rolling before these folks feel abandoned in their hour of need. That's NOT the way we do things or is it these days ?

Putting myself in their shoes I would understand their worries and concerns. Hope they do get back to let us know the outcome.

 

[Reverend Ludd]

Are you being prevented from leaving ?

 

[jhr]

There's a forumite called Nautorius who lives in Gibraltar. I suspect he doesn't look at the Liveaboard forum very often, so it might be worth sending him a Private Message to ask if he has any relevant knowledge. Iirc, he's an accountant, but don't hold that against him

Hope you can sort things out. As others have said, you should be able to resolve things in your favour, given time, but that's little consolation right now......

 

[Poignard]

All I could suggest is what you have already decided to do anyway, ie consult a good lawyer.

 

[jimbaerselman]

All she has is that they took the money out of her account the day they bought the boat.

They?

Assuming she's Autralian and it was an Australian account, it sounds as if she has obtained a court order in Australia recognising that money has been removed from her account, that this has created a debt, and it should be repaid. If notice is given, and the debt is not re-paid and no reason given for the non-repayment, it is possible to take out a "charge" (mortgage) against assets owned by the person who owes money. And as the final step, an order can be obtained to force the sale of such assets.

If so, you need an Australian lawyer, familiar with debt recovery law, who can trace the court actions which have taken place (presumably) in Oz.

Or did all this take place in another jursidiction?

Best of luck.

 

[capnsensible]

VO5 is a top bloke and Gib resident. Try a PM??

Plenty of lawyers about, probably best bet.

Good luck!

 

[robinsondb]

I hate to be a cynic but.........first post......location Queensland.......now Gib.......Nothing to do with yachting/sailing/livingaboard......mmmmm. Could this be the well known chess opening move known as the Nigerian Gambit.....? Surely not. ...So call me a cynic.

 

[sarabande]

here is a link to a lot of direct advice.


http://www.gibraltarlawyers.com/news/all/38


Get up to speed on this before you see a lawyer.


EDIT

More info

http://www.triay.com/pdfs/Ship Arrests in Gibraltar.pdf

 

[Davy_S]

I hate to be a cynic but.........first post......location Queensland.......now Gib.......Nothing to do with yachting/sailing/livingaboard......mmmmm. Could this be the well known chess opening move known as the Nigerian Gambit.....? Surely not. ...So call me a cynic.

You are a cynic!
There are enough people from the forums on Gibralter to check this story out, I think it would be better to wait rather than dismiss a cry for help.

 

[jonic]

Another suggestion to contact VO5 by private message on this forum. He lives in Gib and is well connected.

Gib is a better place than most to have something like this happen and there are plenty of good international law firms who understand marine law based in Gib.

 

[colingr]

Cynical moi?

We had a wonderful day out with some lovely elderly people we met here. They took us to Lidl etc.

Sounds a bit iffy.

1) Describing a trip to Lidl as a wonderful day out

and

2) As far as I can tell there is no Lidl on Gib.

 

[PlanB]

Whereabouts are you in Gib?

 

[chinita]

Sounds a bit iffy.

1) Describing a trip to Lidl as a wonderful day out

and

2) As far as I can tell there is no Lidl on Gib.

Perhaps they meant Morrisons. I reckon that if I was from Queensland I would not know the difference!

 

[colingr]

Possibly, but being Aussies would they even have heard of Lidl?

No response back from them yet so I'll reserve judgement for the time being.

 

[SailorBill]

Sounds a bit iffy.

1) Describing a trip to Lidl as a wonderful day out

and

2) As far as I can tell there is no Lidl on Gib.

You're right, no Gibraltar listed here: http://www.lidl-info.com/cps/rde/xchg/country_selection

Maybe the op is an alter-ego of someone else, out for a troll at our expense. It wouldn't be the first time this has happened on a forum would it?

 

[colingr]

Surely not

 

[Reverend Ludd]

What a warm and helpful welcome they are getting.