Finders Keepers? Lost Property and Determining Ownership

Imagine you find a valuable watch in your backyard that does not belong to you or your family. It was on your property, is it yours to keep? In determining ownership of lost property, the law considers three different kinds of property. First, there is simply lost property. This is property that is unintentionally left somewhere that the owner knows where it is with the intention of finding and retrieving it later. Then, there is mislaid property. This is property that is unintentionally left somewhere that you don’t remember where it is, but you have the intention of finding it and retrieving it. Mislaid property can become abandoned property if the owner intends to give up the property by not searching for it, or if enough time passes before the owner searches for it. If property is deemed abandoned, a finder’s possessory rights over the found object are generally going to prevail over anyone else, except maybe the original owner. This is where a court would step in to clear up any arguments over true ownership rights. Finders keepers, while not the standard practice in determining ownership, does have some merit in cases where the finder can show the original owner had no intention of coming back for the item.