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What To Keep And What Not To Keep In A Safety Deposit Box

It's always a good idea to rent a safety deposit box to safe keep your important documents, personal collectibles, academic certificates and family heirlooms. But before you rent a safety deposit box and shove everything in it, you must make a wise decision regarding what to stash in it and what to keep out of it.

Some people say that not everyone needs a safety deposit box. Well, we have a different view. According to us, almost anyone can benefit from renting a safety deposit box. Now we do understand that not everyone is wealthy enough to have multiple estate documents and business papers but still we all have something that we hold dearly. It can be anything, from a family heirloom to an academic certificate, from your wife's jewelry to the vintage watch that your father gave you. Regardless of what your financial position is, you can certainly afford and benefit from a safety deposit box.

What can I store in a safety deposit box?

safety deposit boxesIt is recommended that you use your safety deposit box for storing important documents like birth certificates, marriage or divorce certificates, real estate papers, precious jewelry, family photographs, shares and bond papers and your academic certificates.

Ask yourself a question, are these documents so important to you that if they were lost or stolen then you will be screwed beyond the point of no return. If the answer is yes then you know what you need to stash away in your safety deposit box.

In our survey, we have found that some people are not comfortable with the idea of keeping important documents and expensive jewelry in a safety deposit box. Most of these people said that they had privacy concerns. Well, no one can take away such fears but be assured that your privacy concerns are unreal and unfounded. The privacy agreement and liability concerns prohibit the banks and private safety deposit box companies from prying into the safety deposit box that you have rented.

What should I not keep in my safety deposit box?

Well there is no one answer to this question. It all depends upon what you have and how you manage your belongings.

According to some experts, one should refrain from putting wills in a safety deposit box. The reason for this is that private safety deposit box companies and banks provide a very high level of privacy and security. Once the will holder dies, it might get difficult to retrieve the will from the safety deposit box without a federal court order.

Many people find themselves stuck in such situations where the will holder passes away without nominating someone as the heir to the safety deposit box. In such cases the safety deposit box gets locked permanently until a court orders the bank or company to handover the contents of the box to the relatives of the will holder.

Another bad idea is to stash away cash in safety deposit boxes. The reason is that any cash stored in a safety deposit box is not insured by the federal government under the FDIC rules.

This article is written by Sam Neil. Sam is a safety deposit consultant in St. James Safe Deposit.

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