American comedian Matt Rife and YouTuber Elton Castee became the legal guardians of the infamous Annabelle doll, which is believed to be haunted, last week. The development came after Dan Rivera, a paranormal investigator, died on July 13 in a Pennsylvania hotel while bringing the doll on a national tour in the United States. Rivera was taking the doll on tour on behalf of the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR), a group founded by the late paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Annabelle doll is housed in the Warren Occult Museum, also founded by the Warrens. Rife and Castee have bought the museum, and become the legal guardians of around 750 “haunted artefacts” kept there. However, they legally do not own these items. Why do Rife and Castee not legally own the artefacts? What does being a legal guardian mean? Can inanimate objects have a legal guardian? Here is a look. But first, what is the Annabelle doll? Annabelle is a Raggedy Ann doll that is believed to have been gifted to a nursing student in 1968. The student brought it to her apartment, which she shared with a roommate. The student and her roommate subsequently “noticed strange occurrences with the doll” before a psychic medium told them it was “inhabited by the spirit of a young girl named Annabelle,” according to the website of the NESPR. “The two roommates tried to accept the doll’s spirit and please it only to have it reciprocate maliciousness and violent intent,” the NESPR said. Eventually, the doll came into the possession of the Warrens, who kept it on display in their museum in Monroe, Connecticut. Can inanimate objects have guardians? The term ‘legal guardian’ is typically used in personal law to refer to someone who acts on behalf of another person who is unable to act for themselves, like a minor or a person with a disability. By this definition, inanimate objects do not qualify for guardianship. As they have no rights or needs of their own. However, people are often appointed as caretakers for objects that hold cultural, emotional or symbolic value, thus borrowing the language of guardianship. Why do Rife and Castee not legally own the Annabelle doll? The Warren Occult Museum is a private collection of the Warrens, and was shut down in 2019 due to zoning issues. Its artefacts do not fall under any historical preservation scheme as of now. In a statement to TODAY.com, NESPR Director Tony Spera, son-in-law of Ed and Lorraine Warren, clarified that while Rife and Castee purchased the home, he and his wife Judy Spera remain the owners of the artefacts. “All of the artefacts, including the infamous Annabelle doll, are owned by Judy and myself… We have no plans to ever ‘sell’ the artefacts,” Spera said. Under property law, real property, such as land or a building, is distinct from personal property, which includes movable items such as artefacts. In the absence of an agreement that transfers the ownership of such personal property, the new owners act as custodians or caretakers of such items under a private agreement. Rife and Castee's statement as being legal guardians of the items in the museum underpins their responsibility for how these items are stored, displayed or treated. Which objects need a guardian or caretaker? Museums, government departments and private collectors may sometimes hold items they don't technically 'own' but are responsible for preserving or protecting. In these cases, the term used is that of a ‘custodian’ or a ‘trustee’. In India, heritage is governed by laws like the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 and the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act 1972. These laws regulate how monuments and artefacts must be handled. Under the 1958 Act, the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India is the official legal guardian of all protected monuments. Their job is to ensure that these sites are preserved and not damaged or misused. In the US, similar obligations exist under the National Historic Preservation Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Institutions holding items of cultural or religious significance are required to consult communities, such as the Native American tribes, before displaying or transferring those objects. Moreover, ownership or representation is sometimes extended to non-human entities to establish clear responsibility. In India, temple deities are treated as juristic persons that can hold legal rights and have a representative to appear in court. The person who manages the deity's affairs, called a shebait, is expected to act in the deity's interest, much like a guardian would for a human. In the entertainment domain, the rights to represent, use, or adapt fictional characters are typically managed by rights holders such as their creators. Families or companies act as stewards of these fictional works. This includes ensuring that the character's image is not misused or misrepresented. This usually comes under the intellectual property rights. For instance, after the death of the Japanese creator of Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka, his estate now manages the characters' appearances and licensing through Tezuka Productions. This responsibility can not be framed as guardianship but reflects a similar idea that someone must take care of what the character symbolises.
