Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Abandoned Personal property

If the trash was at the curb or other point where it was ready for collection, the owner will be deemed to have surrendered his rights to it, but if the trash can was still in his back yard or garage, removal of the fine china would be theft. It's a question of fact regarding the owner's intent and whether possession and control has effectively been relinquished.

There is another aspect. Property disposed of in trash cans and dumpsters is more and more being recycled. There is therefore a growing legal opinion that "trash" placed for collection by the previous owner really becomes the property of the official recycler and not random trash-pickers or scavengers that come along ahead of the garbage truck and cherry-pick the discards. In this regard I believe some cities are protecting their recycling operations by passing local laws against anyone but the official trash collection service from picking up discarded property.

Without knowing all the facts and checking local law, I can't say whether the china rightfully belongs to the former owner, to the dumpster diver, or the trash collector, but I'd give the edge to the dumpster diver.