Tempest in a Coffee Cup

Property I
Mid-Term Examination
Question 1. (Value: 25 marks)

Alice Andrew, ten years of age, found a used Tim Hortons coffee cup in a garbage can on her school playground. She tried to roll up the rim to see if there was a prize to be had, as per Tim Hortons advertising campaign. Unable to manage with her small hands, she asked her friend, Banan Bashr, who is twelve, to unroll the rim. Banan did and saw that the cup was a winner, the prize being a car valued at $30,000. They took the cup to their teacher, who called both children’s parents.

Banan’s parents take the position that the cup and the prize belong to Banan, and so to them. Alice’s parents disagree and claim the cup and the prize. To complicate matters, Charles Chu, who originally bought the coffee and cup in question, and who placed the empty cup in the garbage, now claims the cup and the prize as well.

The teacher, who still holds the cup, seeks your advice as to whom he should give it to. Be sure to present the arguments for and against each claimant.

I love it when real life imitates law school exams.

There’s an American finders case that hovers on the edge of my memory that’s almost on all fours with the actual events reported by the press: two young girls find an object — a gun, I seem to recall (lovely, no? US=gun, Canada=Tim’s); the younger doesn’t know what to do about it; the older takes charge of it; dispute as to relative title; court divides the value. Can’t seem to find it or even a reference to it. Not that it would help resolve the actual dispute, which took place in Quebec.