Who is entitled to the contents of a safe deposit box?

In South Carolina, a safe deposit box is considered part of a deceased person’s estate and is subject to the probate law process. When someone dies, the person responsible for handling their estate (known as the executor) is responsible for sorting through the assets in the estate, including the contents of the safe deposit box. The executor will receive a key to the safe deposit box upon the issuance of letters testamentary or letters of administration. This key gives the executor the authority to access the deposit box and inventory its contents. The executor is then responsible for determining whether the contents should be sold to cover debts or distributed to beneficiaries in accordance with the deceased person’s will, or simply disposed of. In South Carolina, if the deceased person had a will, the executor must comply with its provisions when distributing the assets in the safe deposit box. If there is no will, the assets will be distributed to the deceased person’s heirs based on the laws of intestate succession. In most cases, the assets will be split evenly among the deceased person’s children. However, if any of the contents are real estate, they will be distributed based on the real estate laws of South Carolina.

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Who is entitled to the contents of a safe deposit box?

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