the decedent's will;
a deed to a burial plot or
burial instructions; or
an insurance policy on the
life of decedent to the beneficiary named on the policy.
|
Ask
the Probate Judge—
Retrieving Will From Safe Deposit Box |
By Merri
Rudd, appeared November 14, 2002, Albuquerque Journal, Business Outlook
Reprinted with permission
Editor's note: This column may not be quoted or reproduced
in whole or part without express written permission of the author.
Q: I read your column about storing wills in a bank safe deposit box. What if
an individual doesn't add another name to the box? How do you get the will out?
My bank says a personal representative must be appointed before it can release
the will. But I thought a personal representative can't be appointed without
the will? M.J.H., Albuquerque
Your bank needs to brush up on New Mexico law. The law states that the bank
shall permit "the spouse, a parent, an adult descendant or a person named
as an executor in a copy of a purported will" of the decedent to open and
examine the contents of a safe deposit box leased by the decedent. A very similar
law exists for credit unions.
The bank shall also permit access to any person named in a court order for the
purpose of opening and examining the contents of a safe deposit box.
If the safe deposit box has no other tenant, the executor (called a personal
representative in New Mexico) or other person is allowed to examine the contents
of the safe deposit box in the presence of an officer of the bank. The personal
representative or other person is allowed, without a court order, to remove:
The bank can release those
items after the person seeking the documents signs a receipt listing the items
that are removed.
Testators should store a copy of their will outside of the safe deposit box
and tell their personal representative where that copy is. Taking the copy to
the bank or credit union should help obtain access to the box.
The bank should not release any other documents until the court appoints a personal
representative for the decedent's estate. If the will is in the safe deposit
box and the bank refuses to release the will, the personal representative, through
an attorney, can apply for a court order authorizing the bank to release the
will.
A court order should be unnecessary if you follow the procedures set out in
the law, New Mexico Statutes Annotated, Sections 58-1-14 and 58-11A-4. People
might ask their banks or credit unions what the policy is regarding retrieving
wills from safe deposit boxes. I hope readers discover that many banks and credit
unions do honor this New Mexico law.
© 2002, Merri Rudd & Albuquerque Journal, All Rights Reserved