We are not aware of any notice requirement for moving safe deposit boxes, unless there is an applicable provision included in your safe deposit box account agreement.

Likewise, we are not aware of any law that directly addresses drilling a safe deposit box when the owner is alive and the account is current, which would be the case here. Whether and when you may drill in this situation depends largely on the language in your account agreement. If you drill a box in violation of the terms of your account agreement, your bank may face liability for breach of contract. We recommend consulting with your bank counsel to determine your bank’s rights and responsibilities with respect to drilling a box for a living customer whose account is current.

If your account agreement permits your bank to drill a box in the situation you have described, we recommend video recording the box openings, in addition to having two employees present, in order to defend against any potential claims that items are missing. We also recommend maintaining records of all notices that you send out in case any issues arise later regarding any of the boxes transferred by the bank.