My best friend died and I lost the safety deposit key to his box. Am I entitled to what's in the box? Does his Power of Attorney have rights? Please help. I can't get another key. He wanted me to have its contents.
Your friend's power of attorney ceased to be effective upon his death, so his attorney-in-fact/agent can't use it to access the box. Unless you were a co-tenant of the box, you don't have access rights either, with or without a key.
Whether or not you are entitled to the box contents is a matter of law. If there was no co-tenant, the only party having access rights is the legal representative of your friend's estate (its executor or administrator), and that's the persono with whom you'll have to discuss any claim on the box contents. If no estate settlement is undertaken, the bank will have to eventually surrender any box contents to the state as abandoned property, and your claim would then have to be placed with the state's abandoned property division.
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Your friend's power of attorney ceased to be effective upon his death, so his attorney-in-fact/agent can't use it to access the box. Unless you were a co-tenant of the box, you don't have access rights either, with or without a key.