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What to Do If You Find or Lose Something in Portugal

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

Found a wallet, phone, or pet in Portugal, or lost one? What the law asks of finders, the one year rule, what you can claim, and where to report.

The Portugal Brief 7 min read

What to Do If You Find or Lose Something in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You found a wallet, phone, bag, cash, or a pet in Portugal and want to do the right thing.
  • You lost something, or your documents, and want to know where to look and who to tell.
  • You live in Portugal or are visiting. The rules are the same for everyone.

Not for you if: your car or its contents were damaged in a road accident. Read What to Do After a Car Accident in Portugal instead.

If you find something in Portugal, it is not yours. If you know who owns it, you must give it back or tell them. If you do not know, you must make the find known in a sensible way and tell the authorities, usually the police. If nobody claims it within one year of that notice, it becomes yours. Keeping something you know belongs to someone else is a crime.

If you lost something, cancel any cards straight away, ask the place where you lost it, and report it at a police station.

What the law asks of you when you find something

The Civil Code sets out the steps. They are short.

  1. If you know who owns it, return it or tell them. A wallet with an ID card, a phone with a contact on the lock screen, or a bag with a name tag all count. You do not have to deliver it across the country. You do have to act.
  2. If you do not know who owns it, make the find known. The law says to do this "by the most convenient means", taking into account the item's value and what is possible locally. A cheap umbrella needs less effort than a laptop or a ring.
  3. Tell the authorities. Follow local custom where there is one. In practice, hand the item in or report it at a police station (PSP in towns, GNR in rural areas).

Good ways to make a find known include a notice where you found it, or telling the shop, café, venue, or transport company where it turned up. Keep a note of what you did and when: where you found it, who you told, and the date. That date starts the one-year clock.

Handing it in to the police

Handing a found item to the police does both jobs at once. It tells the authorities and gives the owner a place to look.

The Ministry of Internal Administration runs a national lost and found website (Perdidos e Achados). People can search it for documents handed in to the security forces. You reach it through the gov.pt guide on lost and stolen cards.

If you found the item on a bus, train, or metro, or in a shop, you can also give it to the staff there. Many transport operators run their own lost property office.

The one-year rule

Once you have made the find known, the item or animal becomes yours if the owner does not claim it within one year. The year counts from your announcement or your notice to the authorities.

  • The clock only starts when you announce the find or tell the authorities. If you kept the item quietly, the clock never starts, and the item never becomes yours this way.
  • If the owner turns up within the year, the item goes back to them.

What you can claim, and your duty of care

When you return the item or animal, you have the right to be paid back for your expenses and any loss you suffered. That can cover vet bills for a found dog, travel costs, or the cost of a notice.

The law does not set a fixed reward for finders. Anything more than your costs is up to the owner.

You may keep hold of the item until your costs are paid. While you hold it, you are only responsible for loss or damage if you acted on purpose or were seriously careless. Ordinary bad luck is not your fault.

If you find an animal

The same steps apply to lost pets, with three additions.

  • Have it scanned for a microchip. The law says a finder should, where possible, use the identification available through a vet. In Portugal, all dogs, cats, and ferrets must be microchipped by a vet and registered in the national pet register (SIAC). A scan can lead straight to the owner.
  • If there is no chip, make the find known and tell the authorities, as you would for an object.
  • You may keep an animal you fear would be mistreated. This is a narrow exception. Your fear must be well founded, not a vague worry.

Wild animals living free in nature are different. Hunting and fishing laws cover them, not the lost property rules.

If you find cash

There is no special rule for dropped cash. It is a lost item like any other. Because notes rarely carry a name, you will usually need to make the find known and tell the police. The more money it is, the more effort the law expects.

If you find hidden or buried valuables

Different rules apply to something of value that was hidden or buried and whose owner you cannot trace (treasure, or tesouro).

  • You, the finder, become owner of half.
  • The other half belongs to the owner of the land or object where it was hidden.

So if you dig up a tin of old coins in a friend's garden, the law splits it between you and your friend. On your own land, both halves are yours.

You must still make the find known or tell the authorities. The only exception is when it is obvious the item was hidden more than twenty years ago. If you do not report it, keep it knowing who the owner is, or hide it from the landowner, you lose your half to the State.

Archaeological finds have a stricter rule. If you find anything that could be archaeological, on public or private land or underwater, you must report it within 48 hours. Tell the cultural heritage authority or the police. They will look after it. A chance find of archaeological objects with commercial value gives the finder the right to a reward set by law.

Keeping a found item is a crime

Taking for yourself something you found that belongs to someone else is a crime under the Criminal Code. So is keeping something that came to you by mistake or by chance, such as a parcel delivered to the wrong flat.

  • The maximum penalty is one year in prison or a fine.
  • The police and courts only act if the owner makes a complaint (queixa).
  • Returning the item, or fully repairing the loss, before the trial starts reduces the penalty.

Following the steps above (return it, or make it known and tell the authorities) keeps you on the right side of the law.

If you lost something

The same rules work in your favour. A finder must return your item or tell you, if they know it is yours. Otherwise they must make the find known and tell the authorities. For a full year after that notice, you can claim it back.

  1. Cancel bank cards at once. Call your bank, or use its app. You can also call SIBS, the card network, on 808 201 251, or +351 217 918 780 from abroad.
  2. Go to the place where you lost it. Shops, restaurants, venues, airports, and transport operators often keep items left behind. Give a clear description.
  3. Report the loss at a police station or GNR post. Make a list of missing documents first. Keep the copy of the report (participação). You will need it for replacement documents and insurance.
  4. Search the Perdidos e Achados website for documents handed in to the police.
  5. Look for notices near where you lost the item, and in local community groups.
  6. Be ready to pay the finder's costs. They can hold on to your item until these are settled.

If you believe someone found your property and is keeping it, you can make a complaint to the police.

Lost documents

Citizen Card (Cartão de Cidadão). Cancel it within 10 days of the loss. You can do this online on gov.pt, in the gov.pt app, in person at a service desk, or by phone on +351 210 990 111, 24 hours a day. Then ask for a new card. See Renewing Your Citizen Card in Portugal.

Identity theft risk. If you lost a Citizen Card, an old identity card, a passport, or a residence permit, you can tell the Banco de Portugal. Use its online form for lost identity documents and attach your police report. This helps stop someone opening credit in your name.

Driving licence. Ask for a duplicate in the gov.pt app, on the gov.pt portal, or in person.

Vehicle registration certificate. Ask for a duplicate online on gov.pt or in person.

European Health Insurance Card. Ask Social Security to email you a provisional replacement certificate.

Transport passes. Ask the operator's lost property office. If the pass is gone, tell the operator so it can cancel it.

Foreign passport or residence card. Report the loss to the police first. Then contact your country's embassy or consulate for the passport, and AIMA, the immigration agency, for the residence card.

If you lost a pet

  • Tell your local council, nearby vets, and the police. Finders are told to report to the authorities, so these are the places a found pet is likely to surface.
  • Keep your contact details in the SIAC pet register up to date. A finder's vet will use the chip to reach you.
  • If someone found and cared for your pet, they can claim their costs, such as vet bills, before handing it back.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute over a valuable find, or if you are accused of keeping something that is not yours, speak to a lawyer (advogado).

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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