House Deed Storage

FX Meister

I'm getting the deeds for my house next Friday along with all the other paper work that goes with it. I'm not sure how to store them. Should I buy a safe to keep them in? If so should I get an expensive fire proof one or just a standard type. The banks and EBS don't keep these anymore and have recommended a document storage company. Are these any good? It's €20 a year which isn't a lot but I'm worried about the long term security of a company like this. Anyone else have any ideas?

2RockMountain

FX Meister wrote: »

I'm getting the deeds for my house next Friday along with all the other paper work that goes with it. I'm not sure how to store them. Should I buy a safe to keep them in? If so should I get an expensive fire proof one or just a standard type. The banks and EBS don't keep these anymore and have recommended a document storage company. Are these any good? It's €20 a year which isn't a lot but I'm worried about the long term security of a company like this. Anyone else have any ideas?

OK, so the original question is slightly old - but it is still an issue. What do you do with your house deeds when you eventually clear your mortgage? I found a couple of places offering deed storage, but they seem a bit 'obscure' so I'm not sure if it is safe to hand my deeds over there.

bpmurray

Our bank (like all other banks, I believe) haven't offered a safety deposit box for many years, so I asked the solicitor who was involved in conveyance all those years ago to hold them which they did. That's probably your best bet - the bank will deliver them to the solicitor, so the risk that you'd lose them walking across the street vanishes too.

2RockMountain

bpmurray wrote: »

Our bank (like all other banks, I believe) haven't offered a safety deposit box for many years, so I asked the solicitor who was involved in conveyance all those years ago to hold them which they did. That's probably your best bet - the bank will deliver them to the solicitor, so the risk that you'd lose them walking across the street vanishes too.

Does your solicitor charge for this?

okatied

We've just paid off our mortgage and are wondering the same thing. The bank said as long as the safe is fireproof it would be fine. We don't have a solicitor to ask.

Sue Pa Key Pa

okatied wrote: »

We've just paid off our mortgage and are wondering the same thing. The bank said as long as the safe is fireproof it would be fine. We don't have a solicitor to ask.

I'm sending mine to my solicitor. Just a side comment/advice. You own a mortgage free property and don't have a solicitor. Have you not made a will? If not, you should really consider it

adam88

I was fortunate enough to but my first house mortgage free. My solicitor offered to mind my deeds for me. He was obviously thinking down the road when I think of selling the place. Think it's common practice for them to store them for clients. They have the fireproof safes and Insirance etc

okatied

I found a solicitor that deals in deed storage and is local to me so going to go with that. I should probably make an appointment to make a will. I suppose I still think I'm young even though the grey hairs are starting to poke through
When I am sorting out the deeds I might ask about wills.

NIMAN

Could someone answer this question?

What exactly do you deeds look like? Is it a single certificate or official document?

Sue Pa Key Pa

okatied wrote: »

I found a solicitor that deals in deed storage and is local to me so going to go with that. I should probably make an appointment to make a will. I suppose I still think I'm young even though the grey hairs are starting to poke through
When I am sorting out the deeds I might ask about wills.

Back on the will thing. I made mine recently because I saw the upset it caused with a family member when someone passed away without a will. Nobody was fighting over the assets, but next of kin were put through the hoops trying to find if there was one in place and trying to second guess what the person would have wanted. The person handling the whole thing could have done without that when they were grieving. Just a thought

NUTLEY BOY

NIMAN wrote: »

Could someone answer this question?

What exactly do you deeds look like? Is it a single certificate or official document?

It depends on whether the property was "registered" with the Land Registry or memorialised with the Registry of Deeds. I think that most properties are now compulsorily registered with the Land Registry as conveyances take place.

AFAIK a Land Registry registration means that you hold a very small amount of simple documentation.

We have an old house and the various elements of the title deeds are all memorialised with the Registry of Deeds. Therefore, we have a big deeds bundle comprising about thirty documents and about three inches thick... This is a bit of an historically messy situation with Irish property titles.

NUTLEY BOY

If lodging deeds with a solicitor please be sure to get a receipt and put that in a safe place.

I suggest taking a few copies of the receipt and leaving them in different places in case your house burns down. i.e leave a copy of the receipt with your parents.

No harm to keep track of your solicitor either. Solicitors die, practices close or move or merge. Deeds in safe keeping with solicitors can be lost but I would prefer to leave them there than with storage companies who can close and vaporise...

homer911

I had this question a few years ago - my solicitor wanted 50e a year to hold the deeds. I ended up buying a fire-proof box/safe in Homebase and use it for data sticks, passports etc as well

2RockMountain

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

Back on the will thing. I made mine recently because I saw the upset it caused with a family member when someone passed away without a will. Nobody was fighting over the assets, but next of kin were put through the hoops trying to find if there was one in place and trying to second guess what the person would have wanted. The person handling the whole thing could have done without that when they were grieving. Just a thought

I don't disagree, but the issue of being able to find assets is a seperate issue to having a will. A will will generally just say 'everything to the missus or the kids'. It won't detail current bank accounts, saving accounts, pension funds, insurance details and more. You really need to be disciplined to keep these details up to date and in a place that your executors can find easily.

NUTLEY BOY wrote: »

If lodging deeds with a solicitor please be sure to get a receipt and put that in a safe place.

So now, is there anyone offering a service for safe storage of the receipt?

Sue Pa Key Pa

2RockMountain wrote: »

I don't disagree, but the issue of being able to find assets is a seperate issue to having a will. A will will generally just say 'everything to the missus or the kids'. It won't detail current bank accounts, saving accounts, pension funds, insurance details and more. You really need to be disciplined to keep these details up to date and in a place that your executors can find easily.

I never said anything about assets not being found. They were all there, itemised. The problem, like I clearly stated, was that a will couldn't be found so there was no obvious executor and no way of knowing the deceased's wishes