SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES STILL BEAT UNDER THE MATTRESS

Most people who have a safe deposit box haven’t given much thought about what should be stored in it.  Items that properly belong in the box include:           

• Birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates
• Passports
• Deeds to real estate
• Important legal documents such as divorce decrees and adoption papers
• A copy of your will  (the executor  or attorney should have another copy)
• Pension plan documents
• Stock and bond certificates and life insurance policies 
• Military records and citizenship papers

The box should not contain a living will, a health care power of attorney, financial information you may need in an emergency, backups of important computer disks, or irrelevant documents.  You should maintain a separate inventory of everything that is in the box, duplicates of all documents in the box and a personal property inventory with pictures for insurance purposes.  The box should probably not be shared with anyone but a spouse.  However, it may make sense to register the box in the name of your corporation to avoid restrictions on access to the box.  You should also be aware that the banks are probably not responsible for cash kept in a box, and if you keep valuables in the box it is likely that in the event of their theft, the bank will deny indemnification for losses unless it was negligent.  Thus, consider the use of homeowners’ insurance or other insurance to protect these items since safe deposit boxes are not impervious to theft.