keeping cash in a relative's safety deposit box?

[cityish]

Hi, I'm in collections and foreclosure and am anticipating being sued and having judgments against me at some point.

In the meantime I'm trying to save some cash for emergencies.

My sister lives in a nearby city and I was thinking of asking her to open up a safety deposit box at her bank -- at a branch that would be in my neighborhood -- so that I can stash my cash in it in hopes that it would be safe there.

Is this feasible? It's been a while since I've had a safety deposit box so I can't remember how the procedures work.

If the safety deposit box was in my sister's name, couldn't she just give me the key so I could get in any time? Would creditors be able to trace it to me?

[BKParalegal]

What about under your mattress, or the old coffee can in the backyard trick. Why go to the expense and hassle of hiding money in a safe deposit box? Are we talking ten's of thousand of dollars, or grocery money? Lastly, no one can touch your bank account, unless they have sued you and have been awarded a judgement(not withstanding Child Support, IRS, and a trade account with the same bank you have your accounts with).

Good Luck

[Flamingo]

Hi, I'm in collections and foreclosure and am anticipating being sued and having judgments against me at some point.

In the meantime I'm trying to save some cash for emergencies.

My sister lives in a nearby city and I was thinking of asking her to open up a safety deposit box at her bank -- at a branch that would be in my neighborhood -- so that I can stash my cash in it in hopes that it would be safe there.

Is this feasible? It's been a while since I've had a safety deposit box so I can't remember how the procedures work.

If the safety deposit box was in my sister's name, couldn't she just give me the key so I could get in any time? Would creditors be able to trace it to me?

I see you stated you have had a safety deposit box before. If you recall, in order to access the box, you have to have your name and signature on file at the bank and sign your name each time you access the box and provide identification. Your signature has to match the signature on file. If the box was only in your sister's name, you would not be able to access the box unless your name and signature were on file with the bank for access and that would be traceable.

[HHM]

I agree, why bother. It's not like your creditors can come in your home and search.

Big picture though, instead of figuring out how you can hide stuff, you should put your energies toward firguing out how you are going to resolve the issue so you don't have to live in fear.

[magyar123]

If the box was only in your sister's name, you would not be able to access the box unless your name and signature were on file with the bank for access and that would be traceable.

So what would prevent the poster from just calling the sister and ask her to get a certain amount of cash out of the safety deposit box while the poster waits for her outside the bank?
Kids under the legal age for drinking and smoking always ask their older siblings or friends to get them smokes or booze.

[cityish]

Thanks, everyone.

It's been 15-20 years since I had a safety deposit box so I couldn't remember the procedures.

I like the idea of sis going into the bank while I wait outside though.
: 0

Eventually I'm hoping to file Chapter 7 to resolve this, but in the meantime I guess I'll stuff money in the mattress.

[cityish]

My other problem is that my car is paid for and it's worth about $6k. That's a whole other mess. If someone gets a judgment against me I guess they could take the car right? It wouldn't be a repo because the car is paid for -- but I'm assuming they could take it.

I'm single so if I lose my car I'd have to bike to work, 14 miles round trip.

[optimistic1]

How could creditors even get your money out of your very own safety deposit box, they arent allowed to do that are they?

They can only garnish your bank account, correct?

[HHM]

How could creditors even get your money out of your very own safety deposit box, they arent allowed to do that are they?

They can only garnish your bank account, correct?

1. They would have to know about.
2. They would have to get a specific court order to open the box. Unlike a blanket garnishment that a creditor can send to banks trolling for any account with your name and SSN, the creditor would need a specific court order (probably a writ of replevin) to sieze the contents of the box.

Thus, doing so is possible, but extremely uncommon.

Again, this is a bunch of worry over nothing. You don't need a safety deposit box.

[ready2puke]

I love this forum..we all put it out there dont we? Its the best therapy..I think your worrying too much, but we all worry about things big and small. It still makes us crazy tho...I have an idea for you...go buy a small cash box with a lock..put your money in there and give it to your sister...you have the key and the money is not in your possession. You have the same senerio...box, key, cash, sister, but no monthy fees and no bank...seriously...I think that might work for you until your not so worried about it and then when your mind eases you can take the box back...take care

[heyu]

On your car, go pay an evaluator to value your car, point out everything thats wrong with it. you know, like the AC does'nt work, window glass, a piece of board wedge between door and glass to keep it from falling down, tires worn till bald, front end shot, you only paid X amount for it, needs a paint job,tell the evaluator your sob story or sell it and buy something cheaper and use the balance to pay the Lawyer.
Make sure that the Evaluator is approved by the BK trustee,,,,,,,,,, etc etc,,,,,,

[Flamingo]

So what would prevent the poster from just calling the sister and ask her to get a certain amount of cash out of the safety deposit box while the poster waits for her outside the bank?
Kids under the legal age for drinking and smoking always ask their older siblings or friends to get them smokes or booze.

Nothing would prevent that from happening if that is what they want to work out and she can hopefully trust her sister and her sister doesn't mind driving to another town when asked to go into the box (re-read the OP's original posting). When people want to sneak and hide things they will always find a way to do it and will always be looking over their shoulder; i.e., smoking/drinking teens as mentioned in your posting.

[junker]

i had a safety box, with another person,not related so there was no problem there, but i would think if you were called for discovery of assets, and lied to someone like a judge about it, you could have a problem. have you considered prepaid debit cards from places like walmart, or netspend, you can load them up with quite a bit of money and they are safe and not traceable. you can even have direct deposit put on netspend.

[junker]

as for the car depending on what state your in, you are allowed certain amount of exemption, florida is low 1k california is 2500 i think, but if you add someones name to the title, it might help, as your sister or/and your name, then you would only worry about half value.

[GoingDown]

How could creditors even get your money out of your very own safety deposit box, they arent allowed to do that are they?

They can only garnish your bank account, correct?

Yes, they would have to know about it before they could get the sheriff to seize it. They are very difficult to find. You need to remember that creditors usually only know what's on your credit report and what you tell them. So, don't talk to them about it.

But personally speaking, simply hiding the cash in a very safe location in my rented house works great for me. Try to think of a place where it would be difficult for a burglar to find. I don't want to give away my hiding place, but it's in an area that is not very easily accessible.