TODO_LEGAL_REVIEW. This page needs a Florida Bar ethics review before launch: attorney recommendation of a vendor, the no-referral-fee wording, and every legal statement.
For criminal defense attorneys
A place for the client's valuables that you can name on the record
Before surrender, clients ask what to do with the ring, the watch, the coins and the deed. This is an answer with nothing hidden in it: identified, logged, prepaid, and subject to legal process like everything else.
Where things usually go, and how each one fails over years
None of these is wrong for a short absence. A sentence measured in years is a different test.
The family home
Fine for a few months. Over a multi-year sentence houses are sold, leased or cleared, and nobody wrote down what was in the drawer.
A relative
Depends on one person's memory, health and goodwill for years, with no record of what was handed over or when.
A bank safe deposit box
Needs its rent paid every year. Florida presumes a bank box abandoned once it has gone unclaimed for 3 years after the rental period ends, and the contents pass to the state. Source: Florida Statutes § 717.116 (2026) — checked 2026-10-19.
A self-storage unit
Rent unpaid, the operator holds a lien and may sell the contents after written notice and an advertised sale. Source: Florida Statutes § 83.806 (2026) — checked 2026-10-19.
Whether § 717.116 reaches a private, non-bank vault is a question for counsel. What Florida Intervault does when rent lapses: TODO_FACT: notices, grace period, drilling, what happens to contents. See if the rent lapses.
How to recommend us
Five steps, most of them yours to decide.
A recommendation can be as small as handing over the handout. We do the rest with the client or the family.
- 01Settle with the client what is free to move. Anything that is, or may be, evidence, or subject to forfeiture or restitution, stays where you say. That decision is yours and the client's, never ours.
- 02Give the client the one-page handout. It lists what to bring, what to record and who to name.
- 03The client, or a family member on the client's behalf, calls us. Nothing is opened until the renter has been identified against government-issued photo ID.
- 04If the client wants someone to act during the sentence, that is set up before surrender: a joint renter, or an agent under a Florida power of attorney. TODO_FACT: does Florida Intervault accept a durable POA agent, and what must the agent show?
- 05Choose a term that covers the expected sentence with room to spare. Terms of 3 to 5 years carry 20% off each year's rent; 5 years or more, 25%. TODO_FACT: is the full term paid up front?
What the client needs
For the intake visit
- Government-issued photo ID
- The items, with serial numbers, appraisals, receipts or titles where they exist
- The name of the one person who should be able to act, and that person's ID
- A Florida power of attorney, if an agent will act: signed by the principal and two witnesses and acknowledged before a notary (Fla. Stat. § 709.2105)
- Payment for the chosen term
- Declared values, if the client wants contents insurance (arranged separately)
Source for the power of attorney requirements: Florida Statutes § 709.2105 (2026) — checked 2026-10-19. A client already in custody needs witnesses and a notary arranged with the facility; ask the facility how.
No referral fees
We pay attorneys nothing for a recommendation, and never will.
No fees, commissions, gifts, discounts or hospitality to attorneys or their staff. The client pays the same published rate as anyone else.
Where we stop
We do not advise on what a client should store, whether an item is reachable by forfeiture or restitution, or how a power of attorney should be drafted. We store, we record, and we comply with valid legal process.
Questions counsel asks
- Do you pay referral fees or give anything to attorneys?
- No. We pay no referral fees, commissions, gifts or discounts to attorneys or their staff, and we will not. What the Florida Bar permits a lawyer to accept is a question for the Bar, and our answer avoids it entirely.
- Will you produce records or contents if served?
- Yes. Warrants, subpoenas and court orders are honored. Every renter is identified, every visit is logged, and the signed inventory exists. That is the point: an arrangement with nothing to hide is one you can mention to a client.
- Can the client store something connected to the case?
- That is your call before it is ours. If an item is, or may be, evidence, or subject to forfeiture or restitution, it should not move without your advice. Storage here protects nothing from legal process.
- Can our office hold a copy of the inventory?
- The renter keeps a copy of the signed inventory and can give it to anyone, including counsel. TODO_FACT: will Florida Intervault send a copy directly to the attorney with the renter's written consent?
- Is our communication with you privileged?
- No. We are a vault, not a law firm, and nothing said to us is privileged. Keep case details with counsel; we only need to know what is going into the box and who may reach it.
Call with a client's situation.
Attorneys and their staff can call to talk through box size, term and timing for a client before surrender. We will not ask about the case.