Many documents in your possession may either be impossible to replace, or extremely difficult to replace, should the need arise. A safe-deposit box or a fireproof box is the perfect solution to storing these types of documents. You will need to determine whether or not you want the document stored on-site at your home, or off-site at your bank.

Items that Should Not be Placed in a Safe Deposit Box
Anything you would need in an emergency
Will
Living Will / Medical Directives
Funeral or burial instructions - in case you need them over the weekend
Power of Attorney Originals
Passports - in case you need to take a sudden trip outside the country

Insuring Contents of a Safe Deposit Box

Be sure to read the contract for your safe deposit box carefully. Banks do not insure the contents of what you put in the box. Fire, floods and theft are very rare at banks, but it does happen. Most banks will only be liable if you can prove that they were negligent and failed to use reasonable care to prevent a loss. If you are concerned about this, you should check with your insurance agent to find out if you need additional coverage for items placed off-site that may not be fully covered under your homeowners or renters insurance policy. Items typically placed in a safe deposit box that you would want insured may be; jewelry, coins and stamps. If you are storing checks or cash in your safe deposit box, you also will not be covered under the FDIC since you have not deposited them directly into your account.

Items to store in a Safe Deposit Box or Fire Proof Safe The following list is intended to be a reference for you. It may not be a complete list of the documents or articles in your possession that you need to protect in a secure environment. You may wish to store all of your items at home in a fire proof box, or you may desire to store them off-site in a safe deposit box. You might determine that the best solution for your needs is to have a combination of both - storing some of the most important and most difficult documents to replace in a safe deposit box and the rest in a fire proof box in your home. The solution you choose to store these important items is for you to decide, but which ever solution you select, be sure to follow through and take the steps needed to store these important documents. You will thank yourself later when you are looking for these documents, or heaven forbid should there be a fire or flood in your home.

Adoption Papers (Originals only)

Automobile title(s)

Bank account numbers and contact information

Baptismal and other Religious Certificates

Birth certificates (Originals only)

Cemetery Deed (Originals only)

Child Custody Agreements or Parenting Plans (Originals only)

Citizenship papers (Originals only)

Collectibles that are valuable

Credit card account numbers (copy the front and back of each card so you have both the account number and the customer service numbers)

Death certificates (Originals only)

Diplomas

Divorce decree(s) (Originals only)

Employee Benefit Records

Family historical information

Household inventory and appraisals of antiques, artwork, collectibles and furs - you may also want to include photos or videos to help document these items

Important contracts

Immunization Records

Insurance policy names and numbers - (home, auto, medical, life, renters)

Investment certificates

Jewelry and jewelry appraisals

Leases

Marriage certificate (Originals only)

Medals

Military records

Mortgage

Naturalization Certificates

Negatives of important photos - such as those from your wedding

Patents and copyrights

Photos of Possessions

Rare Stamps and Coins

Real Estate Deeds

Retirement plan information

Stock and bond certificates

Veteran's Papers

Accessing your Safe Deposit Box in case of an Emergency

In case of an emergency, you will want to know in advance who will be able to have access to your safe deposit box. Different states have different laws on who can access the box when you die. Some states make it easy for a family member or the executor of the estate to access the box, while other states require a court order to remove the will, which will take time and money. You can rent the safe deposit box jointly with a spouse, child, or someone else that would have unrestricted access to the box. They will however need to sign the rent agreement as well. If you die however, in some states there still may be delays for the co-renter of the box to be able to access the contents. Giving someone a key to your safe deposit box, does not give them permission to access the box, rather their name needs to be on the contract with the bank.

Create an Itemized List of Contents

The final steps to organizing your important papers and valuable items is to be sure to create an itemized list of those items that you are storing in either the safe deposit box, fireproof box or both. Be sure that you list the location of each item and the date that it was stored. Periodically, review the contents to see if you need to update any of the items that are being stored, such as new banking or credit card information. If you have a safe deposit box, take the itemized list with you and update it with you while you are there.