Through out the 3 yrs we dated she bought me several gifts which the most expensive included a laptop for my birthday and a puppy for valentines all the dog health documents and registration is under my name.

In may of 08 she agreed to get an account at bestbuy and let get a camera there as long as I would make the payments which I did , on thanksgiving of 08 I lost my job and she broke up with me (other reasons) I continue to pay the payment until I really didn't have any money which is April 09 and no payments have been done since but I now have a job .

I am in no way bailing out on her I am willing to continue to pay I just can't do it all off I don't have the money and she knows this but now she is out to screw me over and has said she is taking me to court to get her money and the gift .

I don't want to lose my dog or go to jail can someone please tell me if this is possible? There is no written agreement just plain verbal

The dog papers are in your name, so the dog is yours. The camera is in her name, so the camera is hers. I'd give back the camera and get a receipt showing that I returned it.

How do I get a receipt saying I returned it to her? I'm afraid if she sees that I'm giving the camera back I'm not willing to pay her?

Also can she take the laptop back? Since she paid for it but it was shipped to me when it was purchased?

A gift is a gift. If you had given her a laptop as a gift, then again she would be able to keep it. Laptops are not like a ring. You put a lot of personal stuff in a laptop and returning a gift laptop is not the same as returning a ring. Unless you really really feel you must, reformat the hard drive to close out all personal information. But even that can be retrieved or so the techies say.
You should have shipping records to indicate that she had it sent to you and you registered the laptop with the laptop maker. If you don't personally want to take the camera to her-- then ship it with Post office via One price box and with insurance and tracking and signature upon receipt.
If you will be paying on the camera, you can put a note in with the camera that you are willing to pay x amount of money per the usage months that you had the camera. A rental type usage payment, after all you did have the use of the camera like you have the use of an apartment. Hopefully, this will assuage her feeling and her good sense will kick in. Good Luck

You cannot be jailed in the US for debt.

Gifts belong to you. Anything that is NOT a gift goes back to her.

So let her take you to Small Claims Court, let a Judge hear both sides and make a decision.

Well I'm trying to avoid to go to small claims because I don't have the money to hire an attorney.. but yes everything that was not a gift I have given it back to her..

well im trying to avoid to go to small claims because i dont have the money to hire an attorney.. but yes everything that was not a gift i have given it back to her..



You can't have an Attorney in the vast majority of Small Claims Courts - that's the advantage of Small Claims Court. You represent yourself, no Attorney fees.