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Sibsankar Datta (Freelance)     15 October 2015

Releasing of locker contents to legal heirs.

A Claim on the contents of a deceased locker has been settled in favour of the legal heir, with certain stipulations. Thereby, I being the mandated legal heir, have the following queries:

Once the Bank permits legal heirs/mandated heir as per their own norms, without any order of Court regarding the items in locker.

i)   Whether Bank needs the services of a certified jeweler, for preparing the list of inventory in their stipulated Annexure 7a, which do not provide any column for valuation of items.

ii)  Whether Banks can open the sealed/closed packets found in locker while releasing them to the legal heirs/mandated legal heir?

iii)  Whether the Bank can decline the request of legal heirs for allotment of the locker for hiring by the legal heirs of the deceased



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 5 Replies

advocatepassy@gmail.com 971794 (Advocate)     15 October 2015

Banks can decide to give the locker to legal heir or not.  But they will not object as long as you pay them rent, even if the locker is empty. Banks cannot open  any closed envelope and there is no way by which they can get the certified valuer for jewellery as the locker is operated by the individual, against a yearly charge and banks do not know whether it contain jewellery, cash, papers, or just stones. 

1 Like

Kumar Doab (FIN)     15 October 2015

Repeated Query:

It was suggested that you may refer to RBI;Master Circular on Customer Services: Clause 19,20 onwards

You may go thru latesr version of 2015 at:

 

https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_ViewMasCirculardetails.aspx?id=9862#2121

 

21.2 Access to the safe deposit lockers / return of safe custody articles (without survivor/nominee clause)

 

21.3 Preparing Inventory

21.3.1 Banks should prepare an inventory before returning articles left in safe custody / before permitting removal of the contents of a safe deposit locker as advised in terms of Notification DBOD.NO.Leg.BC.38/ C.233A-85 dated March 29, 1985. The inventory shall be in the appropriate Forms set out as enclosed to the above Notification or as near thereto as circumstances require. A copy of the above Notification is shown as Annex IV of this Circular.

1 Like

advocatepassy@gmail.com 971794 (Advocate)     17 October 2015

Banks can decide to give the locker to legal heir or not.  But they will not object as long as you pay them rent, even if the locker is empty. Banks cannot open  any closed envelope and there is no way by which they can get the certified valuer for jewellery as the locker is operated by the individual, against a yearly charge and banks do not know whether it contain jewellery, cash, papers, or just stones. 

1 Like

Sibsankar Datta (Freelance)     17 October 2015

I didn’t find any specific response to my specific query as “ Once the Bank permits legal heirs/mandated heir as per their own norms, without any order of Court regarding the items in locker, whether Bank needs the services of a certified jeweler, for preparing the list of inventory in their stipulated Annexure 7a”.

I'll be obliged if I get a reply in specific.

siddhartha sinha   21 October 2015

There is no clear cut guideline. Even if banks are insisting on it they will do so in presence of witnesses. They may have their own reasons for the same.

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