Safety Deposit Box
We’ve all watched the scene in a movie where the family goes to the bank to open their dear departed loved one’s safety deposit box. The will that disinherits the horrible relative or the invaluable ring thought lost forever is inside and we enjoy the happy ending. And you might find yourself thinking, I should get myself a safety deposit box.
Well, not so fast.
If movies were like real life, you might find yourself at the bank discovering that your important property has been turned over to the state. Just recently, one of my clients was an executor for a relative who had two safety deposit boxes at a bank. First of all, the bank would not allow my client to access the safety deposit boxes before receiving a probate order (called letters testamentary). When the client went to the bank with the probate order (which took about 6 weeks), the bank said that one of the safety deposit boxes was considered dormant. Therefore, the bank had sent the contents to the State Controller’s Office. When she asked the bank why it was considered dormant, she found out that the bank had misspelled her relative’s name and the bank’s bills were returned to sender. The social security number on the two boxes was the same, but no one had a personal relationship with the relative to put the two together. The contents were confirmed by the State Controller’s Office but it can take up to six months for my client to receive the contents of the safety deposit box.
So once you have gone to the trouble of getting your estate planning documents prepared by an attorney, what should you do with the original documents? Most attorneys do not keep originals of your documents, so it’s important that you place them in safekeeping so that the people who need to access them will be able to access them when the time comes.
If you’re going to keep your original estate planning documents at a bank’s safety deposit box, be prepared to visit the bank at least once a year to keep the account active. If bank notices have stopped coming, you should contact the institution to let them know you want to keep the account active. It’s also a good idea to keep pictures or an inventory of what you store in the boxes.
In addition to maintaining an active account, I suggest that you ask the bank what is the procedure for an executor or trustee to access your safe deposit box. Sometimes, banks will allow successor trustees to access the box if the box is in the name of your trust. Sometimes, it’s better to name your successor trustee or executor as a joint tenant so that they can access the safety deposit box right away. Or the bank may allow access but only if you have signed the bank’s power of attorney. So, make sure to ask the bank for its process and make sure that you plan ahead.
Having a relationship with a personal banker or a healthy local community bank like Borel Private Bank and Trust Company www.borel.com is also a good idea. Some banks have a minimum of $100,000 or more before you qualify for a personal banker. Borel has a minimum for free checking but no minimum for personal banking. With such relationships with a banker, you are less likely to get lost in the shuffle and you will enjoy the benefits of banking on a personal basis rather than in mass-market retail banking.
Safe at Home
In most communities, home fires and flooding are no longer all that common. So an alternative for keeping originals is to have a safe at your home. This can simply be a fire proof box kept on a high shelf, or a more elaborate fireproof and waterproof safe that is bolted to the floor. Depending upon your needs, this can be an economical alternative to a safety deposit box, and also a much more readily accessible way to keep your documents safe. Regardless of what you choose, do keep a copy of the documents in another part of the house. And make sure that your attorney has at least an electronic copy of your documents. You’ll want to inform your spouse or executor of this information as well, so they can access your documents quickly should you become incapacitated or die unexpectedly.
There are other options for safeguarding your documents or other valuables. A quick internet search can turn up some helpful and in some cases, quite ELABORATE alternatives (think PVC pipe and a big cement pour over the top!) to the safety deposit box. Only you can determine what is best for you, but for estate planning documents, your goal should be to make them as easily accessible as possible.
I would not suggest handing out multiple copies of your estate planning documents to your successor trustees or executors. Your documents are usually revocable, which means that you can and probably will make changes over the years. So, it’s a good idea just to let your successor trustees know where to find the documents in case of emergency.