Accessing a Loved One's Safe Deposit Box

By Matthew D. Faulk – November 26, 2019

Some years ago, I was meeting with a client and the conversation quickly (and often) turned to questions about what rights he may have to access his father’s estate plan. The client’s primary concern was obtaining access to his father’s Last Will and Testament.  This person shared his father came from a generation that did not talk about of money matters with anyone, especially children.  What this father did share was my client was in charge and could find all the documents, including the father’s Last Will and Testament, in the father’s safe deposit box.  My client noted two items: (i) he was not authorized to gain access to the safe deposit box and (ii) his father was in poor health. 

Estate plans are supposed to efficiently facilitate a smooth administration of an estate, not set up immediate roadblocks.  Thankfully, there is a law for this specific situation, namely, Section 45-2-905, Tennessee Code Annotated.  Section (c) states the following persons in the order listed have a right of access to a decedent’s safe deposit box:

(1)   The duly qualified executor or administrator of the estate may have access to and remove contents from the safe deposit box without out inventory unless an inventory is required by the (bank) or by court order.  Such qualification comes from initiating formal probate proceedings.   

(2)   A person with a court order can have access to the safe deposit box for the limited purpose of searching for a will, instructions related to a burial plot or burial arrangements, or life insurance policies; provided there being no court order, the following persons may obtain access:

a.      Decedent’s spouse;

b.      Decedent’s parent;

c.      Decedent’s adult sibling;

d.      Decedent’s adult descendant;

e.      Person named as executor in a copy of the purported will; or

Any person who had access to the safe deposit box immediately prior to death.

An officer or employee of the bank must be present during this process and an inventory of the safe deposit box’ contents must be made by both bank personnel and the party given access. 

(3)   If 60 days have elapsed after death and no one appointed as executor or administrator has requested access to the contents of the safe deposit box, such access MAY be permitted by the bank to a surviving spouse or any next-of-kin.  Such persons must make an inventory of the box’ contents prior to their removal.  Given banks’ hesitancy to just provide access, one should expect that being given access will be contingent on a providing the bank a signed court order. 

If you have a situation resembling that of my client’s, it would be advisable to further consult the terms of this specific statute and, perhaps, seek out assistance from an attorney.