Your Safe Deposit Box as a Trust Asset.

If you have a safe deposit box, be sure to have a plan in place for a loved one to access the box if you pass away or become incapacitated. Every bank has their own rules (or so it seems).

Some banks will allow you to appoint an authorized user or joint renter of the box. They will need their own key and sign the access card at the bank. This is not always fail-safe because if the bank finds out that you have passed away they may restrict access to anyone even your authorized user or joint renter.

Some banks will allow your successor trustee access to your safe deposit box if you list your box on your schedule of trust assets. This sounds strange, but it is easy to do. Simply update the schedule of trust assets for your Living Trust to include the name of the bank, address and box number for each safe deposit box you own.

Be sure to ask your bank what is the best way to ensure that someone else can gain access to your box to retrieve valuables or documents.

Or do what many of us do -- keep valuables and important papers at home.

For more information on safe deposits, read this informational news bulletin from the FDIC. It's a bit dated -- Spring 1997, but the information is still very useful.