Personal Property

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In determining who has title to lost property, ...

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the property must first be characterized as lost, mislaid, or abandoned

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Lost Property

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Property is lost if the owner unintentionally and inadvertently parted with the possession and does not know where to find it

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Mislaid Property

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Property is mislaid when, judging from the place it was found, it can reasonably be determined that it was intentionally placed there and then forgotten

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Abandoned Property

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Property is abandoned when the owner gives up possession with an intent to relinquish title

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Title to abandoned property is acquired by:

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1. actual or constructive control over the thing (e.g., possession)
2. intent to assert ownership over it

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Title to mislaid property:

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1. The finder of mislaid property has a duty to use reasonable means to find the owner
2. If the original owner cannot be located, the owner of the place where the mislaid property was found achieves the right of possession as against all but the true owner.
3. The finder would title after a sufficient time passes for the property to be deemed abandoned, or until the SOL has run

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In a lost, mislaid, or abandoned fact pattern mention that ...

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if the property was left there by a thief, the finder's rights will be subject to the rights of the true owner

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Bailment

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1. a bailment is created when one party (the bailor) transfers custody of personal property to another who intends to control it as a bailee
2. There is no transfer of title, and the bailee must treat the property in accordance with the terms of the bailment
3. as a general rule, a bailee is not an insurer of bailed property, but must exercise due care to protect and preserve it

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Degree of Duty of Care in Bailment

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The degree of negligence upon which liability will rest varies with the type of bailment (i.e., for whose benefit was the bailment entered?)
(i) the traditional rule is that where the bailment is for the sole benefit of the bailor, only slight care is required, and liability will rest only upon gross negligence
(ii) where the bailment is for mutual benefit, reasonable/ordinary care is required

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The modern trend re: duty is ...

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away from classification on the basis of who benefits, toward a rule requiring ordinary care under all circumstances

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Upon termination of the bailment, the bailee has a duty to ...

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redeliver the bailed item to the bailor. This duty is absolute (damages = value of the bailed good); liability for misdelivery is not based on the bailee's negligence

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Absolute liability on misdelivery exception

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An exception to this general rule exists where the bailee, without notice, misdelivers the property to someone holding an indispensable instrument, such as a claim check

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Burden of proof in bailment

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Where the bailor show that it has delivered property to the bailee and the bailee has failed to return it or has returned it in damaged condition, the bailor has made a prima facie case for recovery, and the burden is on the bailee to explain why the property was lost or damaged
The burden of proof is on the bailee to prove that the loss was caused despite its own care

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Limits of liability by a bailee

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A bailee may by contract limit his liability for loss of bailed goods. Signs (e.g., "30 days"0 are held to be ineffective unless the bailee can prove that the bailee read the notice, or because if its size and location, should have been read

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Gifts

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1. unconditional inter vivos gifts
2. conditional causa mortis gifts

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Unconditional inter vivos gifts require

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1. Donative intent
2. Delivery
3. Acceptance (acceptance is presumed where a gift is beneficial to the donee)

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Where delivery is made through an agent ...

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the time at which a gift becomes effect depends on whose agent is used
(i) if a gift is made through an agent of the donee, it is effective when delivered to the agent
(ii) if made through the agent of the donor, it is effective when the agent delivers it to the donee

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Conditional causa mortis gift

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1. Has an additional requirement (i.e., a requirement on top of donative intent, delivery, and acceptance)--that the gift have been made in contemplation of death (the gift was conditioned on her death)
2. The donor must be realistically confronted with imminent death, and not merely be abstractly fearing death at some time in the future

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A gift causa mortis is revoked ...

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by operation of law upon the donor's recover from the illness that placed her in contemplation of death