When to access a safety deposit box in New York City, NY upon death of spouse?

Question

When to access a safety deposit box in New York City, NY.

If a couple are married and share a safety deposit box, and one spouse passes away. What happens to the safety deposit box?

Does the surviving spouse have continuous free access to it? Should the surviving spouse immediately empty it if they may need access to the contents in the short term?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Any cite to applicable statutes or NYS gov’t websites would be even better. (I could not find any)

Thank you.

Answer 1

boston...is not correct....
if the other person is on the safe deposit box...they have FREE unrestricted access to it...it is there property equally. Have her pull out any docs she may need now for the funeral prep...otherwise....it is hers.
She needs to take a copy of the death certificate to the bank and get his name off...in addition, she needs to put a beneficiary on it so if something happens to her, they can have access.
IRS is not notified...this is her property.

good luck

Answer 2

Upon notification of death, the bank will notify the IRS and the IRS will order a seal of the safety deposit box until it can be opened and examined in the presence of an IRS agent. Any co-owners of the box will be denied access until the IRS inspection is complete.

For this reason you should NEVER place the only copy of critical documents that may be needed upon death such as wills, trusts, property deeds, insurance policies, etc. in a safety deposit box.

Answer 3

"It's not safe."