In short
The Civil Code separates two things that sound alike. Ocupación is taking possession of a thing that has no owner with the intention of incorporating it into your patrimony, and by it one acquires goods appropriable by their nature, abandoned movables, the air, rainwater and the energies coming from sunlight or wind, among others. Hallazgo is different: it is finding a thing that does have an owner and that they lost. Whoever finds a lost movable is not obliged to take it, but if they do they assume the obligations of a good administrator and must restore it to its previous possessor. If it is not known whose it is, it must be delivered immediately to the municipal authority, which will communicate it by public announcement; if the thing cannot be kept without deterioration or without expenses that notably diminish its value, it is sold at public auction eight days after the notice, and if three months pass from the public notice and nobody claims it, the thing or its value is adjudicated to the finder. And if the owner turns up, they must pay the expenses and pay the finder, as a reward, one tenth of the sum or of the current price of the thing. Treasure is another story: it belongs to the owner of the land or of the movable in which it is found, unless the discovery occurs by chance in another’s place and by someone who was there with lawful possession or the owner’s authorization, in which case half corresponds to the discoverer.
What is it?
It is Section One of Chapter II of Title III of Book Three of the Civil Code of 2020, Articles 746 to 754, inside the Article 745 list of how ownership is acquired. It answers a question almost nobody can answer: what you are legally supposed to do with what you find.
Who can do it?
It applies to whoever finds a lost movable and to whoever lost it. For the half share of treasure in Article 752 the discovery must be by chance, in another’s place, and by someone with lawful possession or the owner’s authorization to be there.
Requirements
- If you take the thing found, assuming the obligations of a good administrator.Verified against the official source
- Restoring it to its previous possessor when it is known who that is.Verified against the official source
- Delivering it immediately to the municipal authority when the previous possessor is unknown.Verified against the official source
- To claim half of a treasure, that the discovery was by chance and while there with lawful possession or the owner’s authorization.Verified against the official source
- That what was found not fall under the rules governing cultural heritage, which prevail over these articles.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: First: did it have an owner or not?
Article 746 defines both figures and they are not interchangeable. Ocupación is taking possession of a thing that has no owner, with the express or implicit intention of incorporating it into one’s own patrimony. Hallazgo is finding a thing that is somebody’s property and that they have lost. A wallet dropped on the sidewalk does not lack an owner: it is a hallazgo, and obligations follow.
Step 2: What is in fact acquired by ocupación
Article 747 names goods appropriable by their nature, abandoned movables, the air, rainwater and the energies coming from sunlight or wind, among others; with the exceptions that may derive from the rules aimed at their identification, protection or preservation. Note the list is open and that protective rules override it.
Step 3: You are not obliged to pick it up, but if you do
Article 748 puts it precisely: the person who finds a lost movable is not obliged to take it, but if they do, they assume the obligations of a good administrator and must restore it to its previous possessor. Picking it up is voluntary; keeping it is not.
Step 4: If you do not know whose it is: the municipal authority
Article 749 sets the route. Whoever finds a movable whose previous possessor is unknown must deliver it immediately to the municipal authority, which will communicate the fact by public announcement. It is not the police nor the court: the Code names the municipal authority.
Step 5: Eight days and three months
The same Article 749 fixes two periods. If the movable cannot be kept without deterioration or without expenses that notably diminish its value, it will be sold at public auction after eight days have passed from the public notice. And if three months pass from the public notice and nobody claims it, the thing found or its value is adjudicated to the finder. Both periods run from the public notice, not from the day you found it.
Step 6: If the owner turns up, they owe you a tenth
Article 750 does not leave it to anyone’s generosity: the person who recovers the lost thing is obliged to pay the expenses and to pay the finder, as a reward, one tenth of the sum or of the current price of the thing. It is an obligation, not a tip.
Step 7: Treasure belongs to the landowner
Article 751 defines treasure as a hidden and unknown deposit of money, jewels or other valuable objects whose lawful ownership is not established, and gives it to the owner of the land or of the movable in which it is found. Article 752 opens the only exception: where the discovery occurs by chance in another’s place and by a person who has lawful possession or the owner’s authorization to be there, half corresponds to the discoverer. Deliberately hunting for treasure on someone else’s land does not fit that exception, because it requires chance.
Step 8: And cultural heritage overrides all of this
Article 753 sets the limit: in cases of hallazgo, as well as of hidden treasure and their respective compensations, the foregoing provisions apply only when they do not conflict with the rules governing cultural heritage. If what turned up is archaeological or historical material, these rules give way.
Where to do it
Before the municipal authority, which is whom Article 749 orders the finder to deliver immediately a thing whose previous possessor is unknown, and whose task it is to communicate the finding by public announcement.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
If what you found turned up on the beach or was thrown ashore by the sea, this guide does not cover it: Article 754 refers rights over those objects, and over the plants and grasses growing on the shore, to the legislation on the matter, which we did not read. If what turned up may be archaeological or historical, Article 753 makes cultural-heritage rules prevail over everything else. If the object has an identifiable owner, there is no three-month wait: it must be restored. The Civil Code publishes no municipal charge for receiving what was found, so this guide gives no cost; the eight days and the three months are the statutory periods for the auction and for adjudication, not a municipal service term. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Treating as abandoned what is merely lost: ocupación requires the thing to have no owner.
- Keeping what you found: if you take it, you assume the obligations of a good administrator.
- Taking it to just any office: Article 749 names the municipal authority.
- Counting the three months from the day of the finding: they run from the public notice.
- Believing the reward is voluntary: whoever recovers the thing is obliged to pay one tenth.
- Deliberately hunting treasure on another’s land and claiming half: Article 752 requires the discovery to be by chance.
- Ignoring cultural heritage: its rules prevail over these articles.
Frequently asked questions
I found a wallet — what do I do?
You are not obliged to pick it up, but if you do you assume the obligations of a good administrator. If you know whose it is, you return it. If not, you deliver it immediately to the municipal authority, which will publish an announcement.
When does it become mine?
If three months pass from the public notice and nobody claims it, the thing found or its value is adjudicated to you. If the thing could not be kept, it was sold at public auction eight days after the notice and what is adjudicated to you is its value.
Do I get anything for returning what I found?
Yes. Whoever recovers the lost thing is obliged to pay the expenses and to pay you, as a reward, one tenth of the sum or of the current price of the thing.
I found something buried on someone else’s land — do I get half?
Only if the discovery was by chance and you were there with lawful possession or the owner’s authorization. Outside that, the treasure belongs to the owner of the land or of the movable in which it is found.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Municipios de Puerto Rico
Municipios
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
Last verified
September 7, 2026
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