Why Safes and Deposit Boxes Complicate Estate Access

I will say, a lot of people hear "a safe place" and they think of putting it in a safe. They think of putting it in a safety deposit box. That's actually a bad idea, because in order to get into a safety deposit box in Arizona, you need a specific court order. So then we've created the issue of, well, we know there's a will or trust, but it's in a box. We don't actually know who's appointed. But in order to get the order to get in there, we need somebody appointed. So now we're in this weird kind of chicken-egg situation.

And then when it's in a safe, who has authority to drill the safe? And a lot of the times it's whatever sibling or person gets there first. And if they open that up and it's not, maybe say, beneficial to them: "Oh no, I didn't find a will. I didn't find a trust. I don't know what you're talking about. Mom and Dad didn't have anything. Sibling didn't have anything." So that creates another issue.