Sunday, August 28, 2016

If my (dead) grandfather stole an object from a sitting US president 30 years ago and willed it to me, can I legally keep it?

The problem that you will have trying to sell it is that you'll need provenance that the item in question did indeed belong to Richard Nixon. Provenance is proof ownership and a traceable lineage back to the items construction or purported ownership.
 
The thing is that the Nixon estate would have to validate that the item did indeed belong to the former President and almost no estate (especially one of a former world leader) would provide provenance for an item that you are stating was stolen from its heirs or beneficiaries. They would demand the item's return or they would simply ignore attempts from the outside party to have them provide a [provenance for the items, thus rendering the item essentially valueless to its current owner.
 
One problem with your grandfather's story: Richard Nixon resigned his presidency in August of 1974. That's more than 40 years ago meaning that the item wouldn't have been in the Nixon Oval Office. Your grandfather's story doesn't seem to match historical facts.
 
If the item is indeed from the Nixon White House, returning is really the only sensible and practical thing to do. The item is of no value without a provenance. And even if it was, do you really want your grandfather's legacy to be that of being a thief who stole from the White House?


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