How to open Safe Deposit Box kept by deceased
Sections 60C to 60I of Probate And Administration Ordinance, Cap. 10, state that :
For a deceased person who dies on or after 11 February 2006, the Secretary of Home Affairs may :
(a) upon an application made in a manner specified by him; and
(b) upon being satisfied by the applicant that kept :
(i) a solely rented safe deposit box; or
(ii) a jointly rented safe deposit box, at a bank immediately before his death;and
(c) upon such proof as he considers sufficient, issue to the applicant a Certificate for Necessity of Inspection of Bank Deposit Box in respect of the estate of the deceased.
An application may be made :
(a) by the executor or any one of the executors of the deceased concerned;
(b) by a person who intends to apply for a grant in respect of the estate of the deceased concerned; or
(c) where the safe deposit box concerned is a jointly rented safe deposit box, by any surviving renter.
Removal of Will
If a will or similar instrument is found in the safe deposit box upon inspection, and the holder of the certificate is the executor or one of the executors named in it, the bank will allow the holder to remove the will or instrument after a copy of it has been placed in the box. In other cases, the bank will make a copy of the will or instrument, place the original back to the box and give the copy to the public officers present.
Preparation of Inventory
Where :
a. no will or similar instrument is found in the safe deposit box;
b. a will or similar instrument is found in the safe deposit box and the holder of the certificate is a named executor in it; or
c. the holder of the certificate is the surviving renter in the case of a jointly rented safe deposit box,
the holder of the certificate for inspection should prepare an inventory of the contents of the safe deposit box in the presence of the bank staff, the public officers, and in the case of a jointly rented safe deposit box, the other party, i.e. the surviving renter or the executor/the person entitled in priority to administer the estate.
Removal of Items
An authorization to remove specific document (including the will or similar instrument) or article from the safe deposit box of the deceased person will be issued only after an inventory of the contents of the box has been prepared.
Removal of documents of monetary value and articles from the safe deposit box is not allowed, except in cases where the applicant is the surviving renter of a jointly rented safe deposit box with survivorship arrangement under specific circumstances.
Where the lease agreement of the jointly rented safe deposit box provides for survivorship arrangement, the surviving renter may apply for an authorization to remove from the safe deposit box document and article that belong to him. And the surviving renter should secure the written consent of the executor/the person entitled in priority to administer the estate to the removal of the items, as well as the latter’s presence at the removal process.
After 12 months following the death of the deceased person, the surviving renter may exercise his right of access to the safe deposit box provided that an inventory of the contents in the safe deposit box has already been prepared in accordance with the relevant legal provisions. There is no need to apply for an authorization for removal of items. However, the bank will likely ask for sufficient proof that the deceased person has died over 12 months.