How is the discovery of a treasure shared?

During work, two workers of an earthmoving business accidentally discover gold bars on a site belonging to a land and rural grouping. A few days later, an agreement organizing the sharing is concluded between the owner of the site, the workers and the executives of the earthmoving company. Under this transaction, the owner of the land will obtain more than half of the ingots. The Orléans Court of Appeal annuls the division resulting from this agreement.

The Court of Cassation dismisses the appeal brought by the owner of the land and the company executives. In a settlement, the Court recalls that if a distribution may be different from that provided for by law, it is only on condition that the discoverers of the treasury have consented to give up the legal quantity in a sufficiently informed manner. Which wasn't the case. Indeed, the day after the agreement was signed, one of the workers disputed the disadvantageous distribution because he was unaware of the legislation which automatically allocates half the value of the treasury to whoever finds it.

On the one hand, the Court of Cassation confirms the rule of allocation. On the other hand, it also specifies that in the case of discovery of a treasure by several persons, each of them must be qualified as inventors. Half of the discovery must then be shared between several people; in this case, between the two workers who found the precious objects simultaneously.