Understanding Your Safe Deposit Box
A safe deposit box is a secure container that is typically located in a bank inside the vault where all the money is kept. Typically used for jewelry, collectibles, valuable documents, photographs and other things that can’t be replaced, you can be sure that your items are safe and secure, especially when you consider that everyone else’s money and valuables are in that same vault. In many cases, the items kept in these boxes are a little too secure. Let’s look at how the items in these boxes sometimes sit for years and why you may find an old safe deposit box just by conducting a simple online search.
How Your Safe Deposit Box Works
Before we discuss how to find an old safe deposit box, let’s give an example of how to use one. Let’s say that you have a rare antique necklace that has been in your family for years. You don’t want to put it in a safe at home and you certainly don’t want to just store it in a drawer somewhere. Since the item is incredibly valuable, you want it to be kept in a place that’s basically locked away in a vault somewhere. That’s where safe deposit boxes come in handy.
For a nominal fee, you can keep your valuables in your safe deposit box for as long as you’d like. You will be given a key and you can access your items whenever, as long as the facility housing the safe deposit box is open for business at the time. Then, to retrieve your items, or just to check up on them, you’ll have to show photo ID and then you’ll be given access or you can close the box and take your items at that time.
In some cases, people lose track of their safe deposit box contents and the box just sits for years. When that happens, the bank doesn’t want to just throw the contents away. The bank officials will attempt to locate the owner of the safe deposit box. If you can’t be located, your safe deposit box contents will usually be added to the unclaimed money department in your respective state.
For this reason, you may be able to find an old safe deposit box in your name with a simple online search. Search your first and last name using the Cash Unclaimed database and you may find an old safe deposit box with contents that you don’t even remember. What an exciting time that would be!
