Legal Question in Investment Law in California

I found a U.S. Savings Bond and...

While employeed at a Thrift Store, I came across two folded up papers tucked into the folds of an old book that was donated to the store and I later purchased. The first item is a U.S. Savings Bond series EE in the amount of $100 dollars, the second item is a certificate endorsed under the laws of the State of New York, five shares of common stock listed as fully paid and non assessable shares of the common stock of a large corporation. If efforts to locate the original owner are unsucessful, or if the owner is deceased,would these items become null and void(worth only the paper they're printed on) or could ownership then be transfered, making the possessor of the above mentioned documents named as owner/holder? If so, how?


Asked on 11/12/02, 10:25 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: I found a U.S. Savings Bond and...

Although some bonds are 'bearer' bonds, meaning they are like cash and can be redeemed by the bearer as presumptive owner, most bonds and all stocks are registered securities. This means the issuer (the government or the New York company) has a list of outstanding certificates and knows the name of the person to whom each was issued.

The certificates you found are still the property of the person or persons to whom issued, despite their 'lost and found' status.

In general, the law on 'lost and found' property is that the finder must make an effort to discover the identity and location of the owner, and to return or permit the pick-up of the lost article. Only if the owner is not reasonably discoverable may the finder keep the property.

Since both certificates you found can be traced to their presumptive owner, either through the name endorsed thereon or by contacting the issuer, you must make a reasonable attempt to return the bond and share certificate, and if you attempt to cash them in you may be committing a theft crime.

The story is different for money found in the street, which is usually not traceable. Even so, if a twenty-dollar bill was obviously lost by your neighbor (for example), you would be legally as well as morally obliged to return it.

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Answered on 11/12/02, 1:35 pm


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