2011 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 6 — Banks and banking
RS 6:768 — Transfer of contents of safety deposit boxes by an association to heirs, minors or interdicts, their legal representatives, executors or administrators; authority

§768. Transfer of contents of safety deposit boxes by an association to heirs, minors or interdicts, their legal representatives, executors or administrators; authority

A. An association may deal with safety deposit boxes and the contents therein standing in the name of a deceased person, or in which the latter had an interest, in accordance with its contract with its customer until the association receives notice in writing addressed to it of the death of said customer. After receipt of such notice in writing and upon proper authority and upon obtaining a receipt therefor, any association may transfer the contents of a safety deposit box standing in the name of a deceased person or in which the latter had an interest, to the succession representative, the surviving spouse, heirs, or legatees of the deceased.

B. The letters of the succession representative or the judgment recognizing and putting the heirs in possession issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, and accompanied by letters of tutorship or curatorship of the heirs who are not sui juris, shall constitute proper authority for making the transfer, which, when so made and receipted for, shall be full protection to the association as to any heir, legatee, creditor, or other person having rights or claims to funds or property of the decedent, and the association shall have no liability for any inheritance tax due thereon.

C. Upon proper authority and upon obtaining a receipt therefor, an association may transfer the contents of a safety deposit box belonging to an interdict or a minor to the legal representative of such interdict or minor. The letters issued to the legal representative by a court of competent jurisdiction shall constitute proper authority for making the transfer, which when so made and receipted for, shall be full protection to the association.

D. The receipt to be obtained by the association may be in any form, but it shall be signed either by the succession representative accompanied by a certified copy of the letters or by the heirs or the legal representatives of the heirs who are not sui juris, accompanied by a certified copy of the judgment recognizing and putting the heirs in possession and by a certified copy of the letters of tutorship or curatorship of the legal representatives of the heirs who are not sui juris. In the case of minors or interdicts, the receipt shall be signed by the legal representative of the minor or interdict and accompanied by a certified copy of the letters issued to such legal representative.

E. Repealed by Acts 2004, No. 42, §2.

Acts 1983, No. 675, §1; Acts 1997, No. 658, §2; Acts 2004, No. 42, §2.