Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Is there safety in a Safety Deposit box?


If you are in Pittsburgh, you may have been following the story of a woman who needed to get into her deceased mother’s safety deposit box.  She needed the original will; the bank needed proof that the woman was indeed authorized.  This was a Catch-22 since the will was the proof that she was authorized.  She sued and the bank gave her authorization to access the box a month after her mother died.  The suit against the bank has been dismissed.  The woman can now move forward with her role as the executor.

While the bank is looking into changing its policies, the bottom line for now is: don’t put the original copy of your will in your safety deposit box. 

Please share this blog with friends and family and let me know if you are using the template I created to keep track of important information.

1 comment:

  1. (I am not a lawyer and the following is non-authoritative.) In my mind, this story raises several issues. No mention is made of the relationship between the mother and daughter. I wonder if the box had been jointly rented by mother and daughter and was in both names with signature cards on file at the bank. In that case, it might have been easier to access the box's contents. Another point is whether one's will should be in possession of one's next of kin and kept in their safe deposit box. Or, should a person have a safe in one's home to house vital documents. If there is a trustee named in the will, sometimes the trustee will hold the original copy. Having copies made is also a thought. State banking commissions have specific rules that pertain to safe deposit boxes and how they're accessed after an owner dies and by whom.

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