Halachic Highlights

Question: Is a woman obligated to return a lost object that she finds?

Short Answer: Unless it would be improper or inappropriate for a woman to pick up this specific lost item, a woman is obligated in hashavas aveidah like a man.

Question: If a finder finds a lost object with an identifiable feature but then loses the item himself, must he pay the value of the lost object to the original owner?

Question: May a homeowner keep a valuable object that he finds buried in his yard?

Short Answer: Unless the owner knows that the object was there from before he purchased the property, many Acharonim rule that he may not keep the object, as his property acquired the object before yiush and now the property owner must return it or hold onto the object until Eliyahu HaNavi comes.

Question: Is it permitted to simply return a lost object to a lost and found department in a store or must you try to track down the owner yourself?

Question: May an owner offer a reward to anyone who finds his lost object? May the finder keep the reward?

Short Answer: Yes, according to many contemporary poskim, a finder may accept a reward, but some add that it is preferable for the finder to donate the reward to tz’dakah.

Question: May a claimant reclaim his lost object from the finder based on simanim (identifying features) alone or are character witnesses also necessary?