What do I keep in my Safety Deposit Box?
What do I keep in my safety deposit box?
This is a question we get all the time. Our suggestion is important documents that are difficult, time consuming, or costly to replace. Many times these items are available elsewhere, but can require a lot of time and effort to obtain.
- Original Last Will and Testament, if your attorney is not keeping it on file.
- Original Deeds for Real Estate, if your state provides purchasers with original deeds
- Certificates of securities (actual stock certificates)
- Certified copies of birth certificates/adoption records
- Certified copies of marriage and divorce records
- Original marriage licenses/certificates
- Military discharge and service records
- Veterans Benefits
- Death certificates for very close relatives, or if you are working as the administrator of an estate
- Social Security Cards
- Government bonds – for example, a savings bond
- Titles to automobiles currently owned
- Actual copies of policies of insurance – life, long-term care, burial … Yes, you can get copies, but if you need it quickly, it may be easier to have it in the safety deposit box
- Important contracts
- Notes payable to you, (for example, your brother-in-law borrowed $10,000 from you and you had him sign a note to repay that loan)
And, you may want to keep certain things from your family that you never want to be in danger of destruction/theft. Important jewelry, letters from long ago that are important to you, in bigger safety deposit boxes, some families keep silver.
Ready to start on your estate plan? Then, contact us for more information or to schedule an appointment.
Or, you can also begin collecting information on your own with the Ultimate Life Binder.
