Theft by finding

This article is about the legal term. For the work by David Sedaris, see Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977–2002).
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In criminal and property law, theft by finding occurs when someone chances upon an object which seems abandoned and takes possession of the object, but fails to take steps to establish whether the object is genuinely abandoned and not merely lost or unattended before taking it for themselves.[1] In some jurisdictions, the crime is called "larceny by finding" or "stealing by finding".[2][3]

  1. ^ Tooher, Joycey (2008). "finding of property". In Peter Cane and Joanne Conaghan (ed.). The New Oxford Companion to Law (Oxford Reference Online. ed.). Oxford University Press Inc. ISBN 9780199290543. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tay was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Larceny by Finding (reprinted from the Law Times (London))". The American Law Register. 7 (6): 381–383. Apr 1859. JSTOR 3302356.