question for those who know

[flfeathers]

I love to read the posts and have not made a post before now. I was just thinking, my dad's family had the old homestead since the early 1700's, when grandma died in the mid 1900's the city bought the property to make a park out of it and have never touched it since. They burned the old family house and barn down and never went back. Ok now here is the question, should I go back and check out the property Do ya'll think it would be worth making a weekend trip And being new to finding is it legal to go there and search since the city now owns the property. Thanks for you help.

[diggummup]

First and foremost,welcome to the Treasurenet forum.I would love to have a site like that at my disposal.You need to do some research,find out details as to whether or not you can metal detect there.If I were you,i'd explain your family history of the place to whomever is in charge of the property now.I would think that would help in getting permission to search.If you don't mind me asking,where are you at?

[flfeathers]

I am now on the East coast of Florida just south of Daytona Beach. The family property is on the West Coast of Florida in Clearwater/Dunedin. My family had over 200 acres at one time and slowly sold it off. If you have ever heard of the Courtney Campbell Causeway or McMullin Booth Road in Clearwater, they were named after my family. The final peice of land is is on the border of Clearwater and Dunedin, and there has been nothing done with the property since it was sold.

[Jeffro]

You will have to get permission from the new owner, but it really shouldn't be hard. find out who is in charge of the cities "unused" property and let them know your lineage, it should be helpful.

[Siegfried Schlagrule]

check into the Law of Replevin which can be used to establish ownership and force the owner to permit your search. After the judge rules you can request a law officer to accompany you in your search. Each state is a little different so get the particulars. In general the Law of Replevin allows you to state that you or your ancestors hid property on a particular piece of land. If the judge believes you and its not some top secret military base you will get permission to make the search. Usually the judge also bars the land owner from a share of the stated object of the search but grants them an equal share of any other loot that surfaces. After recovery you can expect to be sued by all your relatives for their share of what you found. exanimo, ss

[flfeathers]

Thank you all for your welcomes and helpful information. Grandma passed when she was 97, she had 13 children in her little 3 bedroom florida cracker home with the tin roof. She had outlived all but 4 of her children when she passed and they are gone now too. There are so many cousins floating around that if they wanted to sue for a share in what if anything I would find there wouldn't be much left. I will check into the city information to see who would be in charge of the property and if they would mind me going on it without the court hassles first. I will keep ya'll updated. Again thanks,
flfeathers