lost property

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Lost property is typically personal property that an owner unintentionally and involuntarily parts with. 

Real property may not be lost or mislaid.

Common Law Origins

Common law defines lost property as personal property that was unintentionally left by its true owner. For example, a wallet that falls out of someone's pocket is lost. 

At common law, a person who found lost personal property could keep it until and unless the original owner comes forward. This rule applied to people who discovered lost property in public areas, as well as to people who discovered lost property on their property. The overall goal of property law in this area of lost property/rule of finder’s is to facilitate the return of lost property to its true owner, while also recognizing that the first finder has a claim of ownership that is good against the whole world except with respect to the true owner of the lost property. This notion that the person who first finds the lost property (first finder) has a claim of ownership that is absolute except with regard to the true owner is sometimes known as the “First in Time” Rule. This principle is discussed at length in the case of Clark v. Maloney.

Modern Interpretations

Many jurisdictions have statutes that modify the common law's treatment of lost property. Typically, these statutes require lost personal property to be turned over to a government official, and that if the property is not claimed within a set period of time, it goes to the finder, and the original owner's rights to the property are terminated.

[Last updated in June of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team