So you think you are the legal beneficiary?

[ZaneNBK]

Sorry, but I'm not seeing any good reason not to use a safety deposit box. Having it in a safe in your home could lead to exactly the same situation you're talking about. I'm amazed you haven't come to that conclusion yourself since you state the situation was caused by... a stolen safe in someone's house.

I keep mine in a safety deposit box. If we were keeping it at home I'd keep it in an unlocked fireproof box. Why unlocked? In case someone breaks in to steal shit, if they can open it and just see papers in there (and nothing else) they're not likely to take it.

On a side note, anyone with older parents should encourage them to keep their will up to date. If they decide to make changes they should make them as quickly as possible. Be tactful and don't mention specifics to them, just start a conversation and let them know it's important that their desires (whatever they are) are backed up by a legal document kept in a safe, known place.

My grandparents passed away while my grandfather was in the middle of modifying his will. Everyone in the family knew exactly what he wanted and the change he was making but since it didn't get recorded it allowed a family member to basically steal a house from another family member. No-one ever thinks they'll have someone like that in their family, but it happens.

 

[shortylickens]

A box at the bank is fine. I think the real issue is completely losing documents and then years later going to the state to try and get new copies.
THATS a huge damn hassle, and should be avoided.
Either personal safe or the bank, for the love of god dont leave that crap laying around on your kitchen table.

 

[darkxshade]

BTW, you should all be pleased to know that I have named ATOT as the sole beneficiary of my vast fortune. Ya'll better have your credentials in order.

 

[kranky]

. No-one ever thinks they'll have someone like that in their family, but it happens.

Being old enough to have witnessed quite a few estate settlements that involved family and friends, I would modify your statement to say "no one ever thinks they'll have someone like that in their family, but it almost always happens."

I don't know what happens, but some of the nicest people I have known became cut-throat and practically evil when it came to settling up assets of deceased relatives. People grabbing stuff from the deceased's home during the funeral viewing because "Uncle Carl always told me I could have that." A daughter running to the bank an hour after her father passed away to get into the safe deposit box before her mother could take inventory (daughter had access to the box). One person cheats another because they think otherwise they will be the person getting cheated out of part of the inheritance.

I don't know how to explain it. It's shocking. I feel bad for the executors who have to try to sort all that out.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

A major reason is that people are often counseled not to name their spouse as a beneficiary because if they get divorced, people don't remember to go back and update beneficiaries on insurance, 401ks, etc. There are plenty of stories about ex-wives and ex-husbands receiving 401k funds that should have gone to the deceased's current spouse.

So people get told to name their beneficiary thusly: "The person I am married to at the time of my death". And that's why they demand proof of the marriage, as the beneficiary wasn't directly named.

Or they can just remember to do all that at time of divorce. Rate of forgetfulness after divorce probably positively correlates to divorce rate.