Submitted by GSDBUZZ t3_11dg78s in personalfinance

I am talking about Wills, POA, titles for cars, SS cards, birth certificates, marriage license etc… I keep some of these in a Safe Deposit Box but after reading the NYTimes article that was posted here last week I am rethinking that. Someone suggested a home safe but wouldn’t that just encourage a thief to steal it thinking it contained valuables? Plus I have a small fear that we would lose the combination. Is a fireproof/ waterproof box enough if I put it on a shelf amongst crap in the basement? If you recommend a safe where should we put it?

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84740296169 t1_ja8dps3 wrote

In a fireproof lockbox with in a fireproof envelope in the back of a closet. I assume thieves will try to steal something smaller and more valuable before they find and take this.

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Gwsb1 t1_ja8e128 wrote

I keep them in my 500 lb fireproof safe.

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DeluxeXL t1_ja8eb1k wrote

Scan them at the best resolution (because when you need a replacement or just a quick look, a copy helps) and store the originals in a bolted-down fire safe. The safe doesn't have to be in your room where valuables are expected.

>Plus I have a small fear that we would lose the combination

Put it in your password manager.

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The_Real_Scrotus t1_ja8ebbb wrote

We have a gun safe in the basement where we store those sorts of things.

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WantToRetireSomeday t1_ja8f2rs wrote

You should give a copy to whoever is the person responsible in a each document. Don’t have your Will be a surprise to the executor.

I keep all of the originals in a fireproof envelope inside a gun safe in our basement. A scan of every document. Yes in a protected folder on a thumb drive with a trusted relative.

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bulldg4life t1_ja8f43g wrote

I have a fireproof lockbox in my closet with all of that. It's about the size of a medium-sized cooler and weighs 40 pounds or so. If a thief walks by my desktop, laptop, kitchenaid, wallet, wife's purse, two giant TVs, then goes upstairs and passes another laptop, three phones, another tv, and dives behind all of the stuff in the linen closet to grab a giant heavy box that is awkwardly shaped to then run out of the house --- I mean, they've earned it, I guess.

They will have successfully stolen my mortgage documents, two marriage licenses, my mom's will, two birth certificates, two passports, $200 in euros, the title to my car, the loan information for my wife's car, and my wife's student loan payoff information.

That's a lot of effort

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SkyliteBlueSnake t1_ja8h065 wrote

My will is filed with the county so that if no one can find my copy, they can still go to the court and have them pull it up (for a small fee I'm sure). I have some copies in small fireproof box. There are more copies in a three ring binder in the office closet. It's kind of a hide in plain sight situation. Is a thief really going to go for a Lisa Frank binder (it's not actually a Lisa Frank binder. I respect my eyeballs too much for that kind of crap) on a shelf with a package of padded envelopes, boxes of markers and pens, and a stack of manuals for various devices? Especially when there are portable electronics all over the home and a giant jewelry box (it's 3 feet tall) full of not at all expensive, but high sentimental value, sparkly things? Also designated POA/secondary POA have copies of their POAs (financial and health).

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MegBundy t1_ja8kzqo wrote

You guys don’t get one of those battery powered safes and then lose the key and then let the battery die. All my shit is in there. Wedding rings. Documents. Fuck.

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1955photo t1_ja9duqe wrote

If you keep them in a safe or lockbox make sure your executor and at least 2 other people know where the combination and keys are. Make duplicate keys and spread them around to different people.

My ex forgot the combination to his gun safe and it was just a fluke that someone else had written it down.

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GSDBUZZ OP t1_ja9f916 wrote

Thanks for the advice. I will tell all my kids and my sister where everything is and give them all the combination.

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