Question

Lets say someone, you where in a very very rich family and you have gold bars and silver and jewelry and diamonds, and something happened to where you slipped in a coma, and someone stole all of your assets and all your money and your valuables will you be able to get them back?

Answer 1

Short answer: often yes — but it’s not automatic. Recovery is possible in many cases, especially if you act quickly and have proof of ownership. How easy it will be depends on where you live, what was stolen, who took it, whether items were converted to cash, and whether someone can legally act for you while you’re incapacitated.

Practical steps to take right away
- Call the police and file a theft/stolen-property report. Get a copy or report number.
- Notify financial institutions (banks, brokerages, credit cards) and ask them to freeze accounts or put holds.
- Contact your insurance company (homeowners, jewelry/floater, etc.) to report the loss.
- If you already have a durable power of attorney (POA) or a court-appointed guardian/conservator, that person should act immediately. If you don’t, someone (usually a close relative) can ask the court for a temporary guardian/conservator so they can sue, access accounts, and protect assets.
- Gather and preserve evidence of ownership: receipts, appraisals, photos, serial numbers, certificates (for diamonds), bank statements, appraisals, titles.
- Look for the items (online marketplaces, pawn shops, local jewelers). Provide pawn shops and local dealers with the police report and photos.
- Consult an attorney experienced in theft/replevin/estate or elder law right away.

Legal avenues (general)
- Criminal: police can investigate and the state can prosecute. A criminal conviction can help your civil case and maybe lead to restitution.
- Civil: you (or your guardian/POA) can sue for replevin (return of specific property), conversion (compensation for value), unjust enrichment, constructive trust, or an accounting. Courts can issue orders to freeze or turn over assets.
- Equitable remedies and tracing: If stolen items were sold or converted to cash, courts can sometimes trace proceeds and impose constructive trusts or equitable liens against the proceeds or property bought with the proceeds.
- Insurance claim: if covered, you may get payment even if the physical items aren’t recovered.

Complicating factors
- Statutes of limitations (time limits) and the speed of investigation matter.
- If the thief sold items to an innocent buyer in good faith, recovery can be harder but equitable tracing and restitution claims may still work.
- Cross-border sales or dispersed items make recovery harder and more expensive.
- If you have no legal representative and are incapacitated, you’ll likely need a conservatorship/guardianship to move forward.

What I recommend now
1. File a police report immediately (if not already done).
2. Contact your bank/brokerage and insurance company.
3. Find any existing POA or estate documents; if none, consult a lawyer about emergency conservatorship.
4. Collect all proof of ownership and any relevant records.
5. Talk to an attorney experienced in theft/recovery/elder law — they can tell you the likely remedies in your jurisdiction and start the right court filings.

If you want, tell me:
- what country/state you’re in,
- whether there’s a POA or someone authorized to act,
- what exactly was taken (banks/accounts, safe deposit box, jewelry, etc.),
- when you discovered the theft —
and I can give more specific next steps or a checklist of documents you should gather.

I’m not a lawyer; this is general information. For legal action, please consult a local attorney.