Dave's answer was right, but I'll add some from experience.....

In a former museum position, in a museum that started in the 1920s and had a ton of loans,  I dealt with this exact scenario frequently.  It's all about the legal issues, while maintaining good public relations.  It takes a lot of diplomacy, sometimes.  But most people understand that you have to do it legally.

You were totally correct to ask for a copy of the will. The best you can do is to suggest to them where to go to get confirmation for their claim.  If there was no will, would there not still have been an executor of the estate?  If so, that's the person who could vouch for their claim being legitimate.  In many states all of the siblings would have equal right to the item...in which case all the siblings would have to agree as to who gets the item.

Also, it isn't abandoned property unless you have gone through a rigorous process to declare it that (which varies state to state).   I was told by more than one legal expert --a loan is a loan is a loan!   (Unless of course your loan form that the lender signed had specific wording to the effect that ownership would revert to the museum if not claimed after a certain amount of time.)

In my experience the claimants will either get the confirming information, or simply fade away.  (Only one eventually went to court.)   Sometimes, if all rightful heirs can't agree they might agree to sign the item over to the museum as a donation and split the tax deduction.....

However it worked out, I always tried to be sympathetic to their plight while still covering the museum legally.

Lucy Sperlin



-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Rachel Lovelace-Portal
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2018 1:46 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Request for return of old loan

Hi everyone,

My museum was recently contacted by someone wanting an item back that their relative had placed on loan with us in 1950. We have a record of the loan in the form of a receipt which states that the item was loaned to our museum for the purpose of exhibit and that the item was to be returned "on demand" to the owner. The person claiming ownership of the item in question says that the lender passed away 34 years ago. We asked the claimant for a will showing who the lender's heirs are and the claimant says there was no will. What type of documentation would be considered proof that this person has a right to the item? They also do not have the loan receipt and the claimant has siblings. 

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Rachel

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