Safe Deposit and Storage Contents List

Who this is for

What is locked away, and how to get at it. The list records the contents of a safe deposit box, home safe or storage unit, where the key or code is kept and who is named to open it, so nothing sits forgotten behind a door nobody can open.

Anyone who keeps papers, jewellery or valuables in a box, safe or storage unit, and the family or executors who may need to find and empty it one day.

What this helps you track

• Where the box, safe or unit is and who provides it
• Where the key is kept or who knows the code
• Who is named as able to open it
• Each item inside, whose it is and when it went in
• Items taken out, and when

How to use it

1. Fill in the header: the type of storage, the provider, the box or unit number, where the key or code is kept and who has access.
2. List every item inside, one per line, with a short description, the date it was placed and who owns it.
3. When something comes out, write the date in the removed column rather than crossing the line through.
4. Tick the checklist so the paperwork, spare key and renewal date are all accounted for.
5. Update the list after each visit, on paper or online where it saves in your own browser, and keep it apart from the box itself.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Should I write the code on this sheet?

Usually better not. Write where the code is kept or who knows it, so the sheet is useful to your executor without being a key to the box for anyone who finds it.

Where should this list be kept?

Somewhere other than the box, safe or unit it describes, and where your executor or next of kin will look. A list locked inside the box it describes helps nobody.

Can one sheet cover several boxes or units?

It is easier to use one sheet per location, because each has its own key, access arrangements and renewal date. Print or duplicate the browser version as many times as you need.

Who can open the box after I die?

That depends on the provider's terms and the rules where you are. Note the named access holders here and keep the agreement with your papers, so your executor can ask the provider what is needed.