Questions people ask
Can you get a safe deposit box without a bank account?
The short answer
Each bank sets its own rule on whether a safe deposit box requires an account there. A private, non-bank vault rents boxes on their own, with no bank account involved, and identifies each renter against government-issued photo ID before the rental begins.
The longer answer
A bank rents boxes to its customers, and each bank sets its own rule on whether a box requires an account there. Some do. Some don’t. The branch is the place to ask, and the answer can change.
A private vault has no accounts to open. We are not a bank, and we rent boxes on their own, from $795 a year for the smallest, 3 by 5 by 24 inches, to $12,500 a year for the largest. Every renter is identified against government-issued photo ID, and every visit is identified and logged. The relationship rests on the rental agreement.
For someone about to begin a long sentence, the difference is practical. A bank account can be closed while its owner is away, and a box that depends on that account is one more thing to go wrong. A box that stands on its own removes that link. Whether a multi-year term with us is paid in full at signing is TODO_FACT: are multi-year terms paid in full up front?.
Some things stay the same. A box without a bank account is still identified, recorded and reachable by valid legal process, and we honor warrants, subpoenas and court orders. Its contents are not FDIC insured, and neither are the contents of a box at a bank.
Who can hold the box, and who can get in
A box can be rented by one person, jointly with someone else, or in the name of a trust or a company. The right choice turns on who needs to get in while the renter is away. Settle that with the attorney before the agreement is signed, since the agreement is what decides who may enter.
A joint renter visits on their own standing, as the agreement allows. An agent acting under a power of attorney is a different arrangement, and our position on it is TODO_FACT: does Florida Intervault accept a POA agent, and what must it see. See agent access for the current answer, and making a power of attorney without a lawyer for what Florida asks of the document.
Renters who live far from Fort Lauderdale can mail documents in. We identify a mail-in renter before a box is opened in their name, place the documents in the box and mail the key back. Visits in person are by appointment, Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM, at 3562 N Ocean Blvd on Galt Ocean Mile.