Section 60D of the Probate and Administration Ordinance (Cap. 10) requires the holder of a certificate for inspection to prepare, in the presence of public officers and the employee of the bank, an inventory of the document and article in the safe deposit box. The holder of the certificate and the public officers present shall also verify the truthfulness and correctness of the inventory by signing thereon. This is irrespective of the ownership and value of the contents in the safe deposit box.
The only exception is where a will of the deceased person or similar instrument is found in the safe deposit box, and -
- the holder of the certificate is not -
- a surviving renter of the safe deposit box; or
- the executor or one of the executors named in the will or instrument; or
- no executor is named in the will or instrument; and
- the relevant certificate for inspection does not contain a statement by the Director of Home Affairs that -
- the will or instrument is invalid; or
-
no executor is named in the will or instrument, or
-
the executor or executors named in the will due to the reason specified in the certificate is/are not available or not capable of acting as an executor.
In such cases, the employee of the bank will place the will or instrument back into the safe deposit box after making a copy of it, close or seal the box, and give the copy of the will or instrument to the public officers present.
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