Found property · Practical

Found Money? A Seven-Step Checklist for “Reasonable Steps”

The phrase appears in the Theft Act 1968 and in police guidance in Northern Ireland, yet nobody tells you what it looks like. This is one sensible reading of it, drawn from the published sources, as a list you can tick off.

Nothing here is a legal test. Courts look at the circumstances of each case, and the steps that make sense for a banknote on a pavement are not the same as those for an envelope in a shared office. The point of the list is to leave you with a clear record of having done the obvious things.

The seven steps

0 of 7 steps done

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Note where and whenWrite down the exact place and time. If it is safe to do so, take a photograph of the spot before you move anything.
Look for obvious owner cluesA name on an envelope, a card in a wallet, a bag with a tag. Stop at what you need to identify the owner; there is no reason to go through private papers.
Ask people nearby, or the staffIf it was found on business premises or transport, hand it to the staff and ask for a note of the hand-over. PSNI suggests this first for items found in shops, restaurants, taxis and similar places.
Put out a notice, keeping one detail backA local community page or noticeboard can help. Describe what you found in general terms and keep one detail (an amount, a marking) to yourself so you can check who claims it.
Ring 101 before you travelMost English and Welsh forces accept only some found items, and significant cash is usually one of them. In Northern Ireland, PSNI asks for cash to be handed in at a police station and wants to hear straight away about £1,000 or more.
Get a reference and ask three questionsHow long will you hold it? What happens if nobody claims it? Can the finder collect it afterwards? Policy differs by force, and the answer is worth having in writing.
Keep your record togetherPhotos, the reference, names, times, a copy of any notice. Do not spend or mix the money with your own while the process runs.

A short record to keep

Copy this into a note on your phone or an email to yourself. It takes two minutes and is the kind of detail that is hard to reconstruct later.

Date and time found: When you picked it up
Exact location: Street, shop name, platform, room: as specific as you can be
What you found: Description and the amount, kept private
Who you asked: Names or roles, and what they said
Police contact: Force, date, reference number, holding period you were given
What happens if unclaimed: The answer you were given, in their words

When a checklist is not enough

If someone else claims the money, if it turned up on private premises and more than one person could have a claim, or if you are unsure whether you have done enough, the next step is advice on your own facts. Our guide to asking a lawyer online sets out what that can and cannot cover, and the rules by nation page shows how the underlying law differs.

General information, not legal advice. Sources are listed on the sources page.