When does a found object (luqatah) become the legal property of the finder?

Primary text

The found object enters the finder's possession by legal implication immediately upon the completion of the required declaration period, similar to inheritance. This is the apparent position of Al-Khiraqi and the position narrated from Ahmad by the majority of his students. The evidence lies in the Prophet's saying: "If its owner comes, otherwise it is like the means of an owner," and the command to "spend it." Furthermore, if the ownership were conditional upon the finder's explicit action, the ruling would have been clarified to the finder and his acting upon it beforehand would not have been permissible. Other narrations state, "It is for you" or "all of it," all of which indicate immediate legal possession. The act of finding and declaration are causes for ownership; thus, once fulfilled, ownership must be established by ruling, analogous to reviving barren land (ihya') or hunting. As it is a means of acquiring ownership, the possession should not be suspended awaiting the finder's saying or choice, unlike borrowing, which is the cause itself and requires more than mere completion of the initial act.