Ethical "Loan" Question

[Iolanthe]

Hello everyone,
Just joined the forum. Being the only proessional curator here, I don't have museum colleagues on tap to bounce ideas off or discuss sticky issues such as this one with. Therefore I wondered what others views would be on the following issue I have.

A chap has requested that his "loans" which are very significant to us are returned to him. He "Leant" them to us in 2005 (long before I came here). I am the first Curator in the organisation so no Entry, Transfer of Title or Loan forms/paperwork were completed. Paperwork is generally destroyed after about four years so although we have some, nothing which give clear cut evidence either way reference the ownership of these documents/artefacts. I have spoken to varoious people who were involved and none of tehm can give a clear cut answer either.

I fear that I am just going to give them back, even though he has not proved that they are rightfully his and that there is no one else on teh family with a claim on them.

Any thoughts please would be very welcome, as I seem to have exhausted all my lines of enquiry!

Many thanks