Can I keep money that I found?
No — you may not simply keep found money or property; the "finders keepers" principle does not exist in Croatian law. Under the Ownership and Other Property Rights Act the finder must, without delay, notify the owner if known, and if not, hand the item to the police or the competent city or municipal body. The find is announced publicly, and the owner has one year to come forward; if no one does within that time, ownership passes to the finder. For honestly returning it the finder is due a 10% reward (nalaznina) plus reimbursement of necessary costs. Here the main myth falls: keeping found money is not "luck" but the criminal offence of misappropriation under Art. 232 of the Criminal Code, carrying up to 2 years' imprisonment. A wallet with documents alongside the cash also obliges you to return the papers to the owner.
📋 The rules
- Notify and hand over: the finder must without delay notify the owner if known, and otherwise hand the item to the police or the city or municipal body (Ownership and Other Property Rights Act).
- A one-year deadline: the find is publicly announced and the owner has one year to collect it; after that ownership passes to the finder.
- A 10% reward: an honest finder is due a reward of 10% of the item's value plus reimbursement of the necessary costs of keeping and returning it.
- Keeping it is misappropriation: unlawfully appropriating a found item belonging to another is an offence under Art. 232(2) of the Criminal Code (up to 2 years' imprisonment).
- Prosecuted on private action: misappropriation of a found item is generally prosecuted on the victim's private action, unless committed against state property (Art. 245).
🔓 Exceptions
- Trifling value: for items of negligible value the reward and the formal procedure are dropped in practice, but the duty not to appropriate the item remains.
- Found on someone else's premises: an item found in another's flat, premises or vehicle is handed to the holder of that space or to the carrier, not kept.
- Treasure and valuables: for finds of greater historical or material value (treasure) special rules apply on the share of the finder and the state.
⚠️ Penalties & fines
Anyone who appropriates found money or property instead of reporting it commits the offence of misappropriation under Art. 232 of the Criminal Code: appropriating a found item belonging to another carries up to 2 years' imprisonment, and the offence is generally prosecuted on the victim's private action. Beyond criminal liability, a finder who kept the item loses the right to the 10% reward and must return the item and make good any damage if it was harmed or spent. If documents, cards or keys were found with the cash and not handed over, the finder also risks suspicion of further offences such as misuse of documents or cards. The evidential cost is hidden too: cash machines, cameras and witnesses often show who took the money, so "I found it" easily turns into a complaint. The safest and cheapest course is to hand the find to the police and wait out the one-year period.
📎 Official sources
- zakon.hr — Ownership and Other Property Rights Act (found items, reward) [Croatian] →
- zakon.hr — Criminal Code (misappropriation, Art. 232) [Croatian] →
- MUP — handling found and lost property →
❓ Frequently asked
Can I keep money I found on the street?
No; found money must be handed to the police or the competent city body, and the owner has one year to collect it. Keeping a found item belonging to another is the criminal offence of misappropriation, carrying up to two years' imprisonment.
How large is the reward for an honest find?
By law an honest finder is due a reward of 10% of the item's value plus reimbursement of the necessary costs. For especially valuable items a court may reduce that reward if it would be disproportionate to the circumstances of the find.
Who do I hand a found item to?
If you know the owner, notify them directly; if not, the item goes to the nearest police station or the competent city or municipal body. An item found on someone else's premises or in a vehicle is handed to the holder of that space or to the carrier.
What if the owner never comes forward?
If no one claims the item as owner within one year of the announcement, ownership passes to the honest finder. Only then may you keep it or freely dispose of it as your own, and until then you must safeguard it.
Is prosecution automatic?
Misappropriation of a found item is generally prosecuted on the victim's private action rather than by the state, unless it was committed against state property. That means starting a case usually depends on the owner reporting it.
🔎 Common searches
What people search to land here:
- “found money law croatia”
- “can i keep found money”
- “finder reward 10 percent”
- “report found item to police”
- “misappropriation of found property”
- “lost property police croatia”