A MAN who found a whopping £24,000 hidden in his loft contacted the police after he became suspicious of the large sum.
Paul was shocked when he found a bundle of cash hidden in his new home.
GettyPaul found £24,000 in his loft[/caption]
Unsure of where the money came from and what to do with it, he called the police.
They contacted the previous owner who said the cash was his as he claimed to often leave money around.
However, once the Serious Crimes squad got involved and started asking questions he quickly changed his story, according to Paul.
The previous owner now said the money belonged to his father-in-law who lived with them for a while.
He also claimed that his in-law had asked him where he could hide the cash.
They had previously owned the house for around 20 years and the large sum had been sitting in the loft for about 15 years.
However, the father-in-law passed away and now a solicitor has reached out acting on behalf of the “dead person’s estate formally claiming the cash”.
Yet, Paul wonders whether he has the right to claim the eye-watering amount.
He bought the house in January and doesn’t see how the previous owner could prove his dead father-in-law left the money behind.
In search of answers, he went on a forum for lawyers and asked whether he was entitled to a solicitor and the cash.
Paul said: “I don’t see how they could prove the dead guy left it there and any possession by the previous owner was lost when I bought the house.”
However, Jo C, a solicitor, responded to his question said that he had “no real claim to the funds” and therefore no solicitor would “touch this case”.
Even if the previous owner couldn’t prove that the money was his, it would still be taken by police.
The solicitor added: “All he would have to show is that he owns it lawfully but even if he does not, it should be seized by the police as proceeds of crime I’m afraid.”
The lawyer’s advice proves he made the right decision in calling the police.
Gary Rycroft, a solicitor from The Law Society, told The Sun: “You have to take steps to identify who it belongs to otherwise there is a risk of an offence of ‘theft by finding’.”
It comes after a driver stumbled upon a cash treasure found in a vehicle bought from a dealership.
And a person cleaning their new sofa was expecting to scoop out crumbs and grub – but instead plucked out cash.
What to do if you find money that isn’t yours
Nicole Bailey Case
Nicole Bailey kept a £20 note she found on the floor and ended up with a criminal record.
The law surrounding scenarios such as that used to be ambiguous, but now that kind of behaviour is regarded as “theft by finding”.
The 1968 Theft Act describes theft as an act where you; “dishonestly appropriate property belonging to another”.
Therefore, if you find money that isn’t yours and don’t try and return it, you legally fall under the definition of theft, according to Gepp Solicitors.
The only loophole is if you can prove the property has been deliberately abandoned, and there’s usually no way of deciding that at the scene.
You must take reasonable steps to find the owner, for example, contacting the police.
The usual process is if the money hasn’t been claimed within a certain period (usually 30 days), you may then be designated as the rightful owner of the cash and it’ll be returned to you.
Treasure Trove
You’re legally obliged to report the ‘treasure’ to your local coroner within two weeks of discovering it.
Otherwise, you could face up to three months imprisonment or an unlimited fine.
If it’s declared as treasure trove then the value of the piece will be split between yourself and the landowner where the item was found.