Today is kind of a public service announcement wrapped in a story.

The firm is serving as the executor for an estate. Part of the estate was a safety deposit box.

Because we could not find a Will, and we could not get into the safety deposit box (they are VERY safe), we had to get a court order to open the safety box to see if the Will was inside of it (it wasn’t).

Once we knew there was no Will, we opened probate, and when named, executor went to the safety deposit box to see what was inside.

Since I know you’re curious, I’ll tell you there wasn’t much in there… except a key to another safety deposit box!

Only problem?

We have no idea where this safety deposit box is.

There is no identifying information on the key, and there was no information anywhere else about the existence of second box.

So, what can we do?

Not much. There is no safety deposit box record somewhere (again, they are VERY safe). So whatever was in that box is probably going to be lost.

Now, there is ONE more thing we can try… and that is the unclaimed property division of Washington State. And we will try – but if there’s nothing there, whatever is in that box will be lost.

The point? Write down where all of your stuff is and put it in a place your people can find it.

It might take you 30 minutes, and it will save those taking care of your affairs when you’re gone a ton of time, money, and stress.

Hope you have a great week!

Sincerely,
Christopher Small
Owner
CMS Law Firm LLC

PS – we love referrals. If you know someone that could use our help, let them know about us!