Divorce was settled 2 yrs ago, is it now considered property abandonment if we're in CA?

[spengler]

Hello All. My mother went through a divorce in July of 2009. Her ex husband was a master mechanic and has several several tools which he has stated are worth more than $100k. When she initially filed for divorce she had to have him escorted out of the house by the sheriffs department because he refused to leave. It was a very dirty divorce. They have since gone back and forth between being civil with one another to hating each other. Anyways, when he left all he took was his clothes. He asked my mom to keep his tools for a "couple months" until he could get back in town to rent a storage unit and have them moved. Well, a couple months has turned into two years and despite the fact that my mother has asked several times to have him move his tools from the garage they still sat there. Recently my mom moved to another house which is much smaller than the one she was previously at so she rented a storage unit and paid movers to move the tools into the storage unit. She sent her ex a certified letter telling him that he had until August 21st to come claim them and re pay her for the storage fees otherwise they would be sold. So, he just showed up today screaming yelling and threatening her life if she didnt give the tools back. she told him he could have the tools but not until he paid the storage fee's, he refused so she told him he wasnt getting them back.
To me it seems like the statue of limitations on property abandonment had to have already been met and those tools and whatever else he left shd be legally hers by now. I have been searching online for a couple hours now but can't seem to find any information. Does anyone know what the statue of limitations is on personal property left at a prior residence? and does it make a difference whether it was personal property obtained via a divorce?

* I asked this in the law section too but wasn't sure if maybe someone in this section might know as well.

[muireach]

She is responsible for the property until she sends a certified notice that says he has (usually 30 days) specified time to claim property. After that time, the property will be considered as abandoned and she will do whatever she sees fit to dispose of the property. Now she sort of did this already with her letter. The problem here is that she took it upon herself to rent the shed and store his stuff there. He never made any agreement to pay for storage so she legally can't force him to pay the bill. If he showed up before the August 21st date, then he has the legal right to sue her for the property or the value of the property. If he showed up after that date, then she can do what ever she wants with it. Really, she should have sent him a letter regarding it long before she moved.