City of Everett v. Estate of Oddmund Sumstad

Al and Rosemary Mitchell (defendants), secondhand-store owners, bought a used safe at auction; neither the auction house nor the Mitchells had the key to a locked interior compartment. A locksmith later opened the compartment and found over $32,000 in cash, and it emerged the safe had belonged to the Estate of Oddmund Sumstad (the Estate) (defendant). The City of Everett (plaintiff) filed an interpleader action to determine who owned the money; the trial court and court of appeals both held the safe itself passed to the Mitchells but the cash inside remained the Estate's property.