Hi there. Under the original verbal agreement concerning the hay bales, the other person acquired ownership rights to 70% of the hay bales. It was an implied term of your agreement that the hay bales would remain on your land until they were collected by the other person. Under the terms of the agreement, other person is the true owner of the property and he is therefore likely to have the strongest legal rights to the hay bales.

However, a true owner may lose certain legal rights to his or her property if the property has been abandoned. The law says that whether property has been abandoned depends on the intention of the true owner. If the true owner intended to relinquish his or her rights to the property, then the property will be considered abandoned.

In your situation, it is not clear whether the other person has intended to relinquish or surrender his rights to 70% of the hay bales. Mere inactivity for period of only six weeks is not likely to be sufficient to support an argument that he has abandoned the property. There would need to be some clear or positive indication from the other person that he no longer wanted the hay bales. If such an intention can be shown, you may have legal rights to the property on the basis that it has been abandoned and it remains on your land. As the occupier of the land, you would be able to claim ownership over the hay bales.

With respect to the fees being charged for storage of the hay, this may not be legally enforceable because the other person did not consent to paying the fees. Unless the original verbal agreement contained a term with respect to storage fees after harvest, the other person is not legally obliged to pay the fees.