The Risks Involved With Using A Safety Deposit Box

There are a certain number of risks involved with placing estate planning documents into a safety deposit box at a bank.  Circumstances could arise where loved ones might not be able to access the box when they need to obtain the documents.  A person might be in the hospital because of a health access and may need a family member to access a living will or health care power of attorney.  There would be a number of questions about whether the bank is open and whether the person has the legal right to access the safety deposit box.

An individual might suffer from a stroke or some other mental disability crises and their loved ones would have no way of getting to crucial documents.  In many states when a person dies access to their safety deposit box might be frozen unless there is a court order.  People might want to consider storing their estate planning documents in another secure place. 

See The Safety Deposit Box Trap, Idaho Estate Planning, October 16, 2015.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.