My wife and I are Americans and have lived in Bern for just a hair under three years.
We recently had a daughter and now have a variety of documents that we'd like to keep secure from possible loss, theft, damage, etc. (e.g. the daughter's birth certificate, our wills, copies of passports, etc.) Right now we're keeping these documents in a locked drawer at home but we'd prefer to keep these documents (or copies of them) off-site in a safe deposit box.
Nothing shady or anything -- we just want to keep important documents in a safe place.
Unfortunately, we've run into a bump: We bank with PostFinance, but they don't offer safe deposit boxes. All the other banks we've contacted require that we have an account with them in order to open a safe deposit box, but since we're American they won't let us open an account.
Surely we're not the first people to be in such a situation, but my search-fu is weak and didn't turn up any similar threads.
Does anyone have any advice? Are there banks that will open a safe deposit box for Americans? If not, are there non-bank companies that offer such a service?
Can't help you with the safe deposit box, I'm afraid - but our Gemeinde Notäriat will keep a copy of one's will on file. This is recommended - and if you are claiming Heimatrecht it is also recommended to keep a copy of that document with them.
Other than that, we keep copies of important papers in a safety deposit box back in the US, as that is where we travel most. If a loss were to occur chances are we - or our heirs -would need them there.
You might also consider a home safe (Tresor). Judging on the wide variety of models one sees here, some pretty professional-looking, I'd guess that's also a popular option.
Interesting. Thanks for the info about the Gemeinde Notäriat -- that's a really good idea!
On a related note, I know that my parents in California have certain important documents deposited with a local attorney with instructions to be carried out if certain conditions are met. Is this something that one can generally do with attorneys in Switzerland?
Also a good idea about safe deposit boxes back in the US: our extended family (and executors of our wills) are back in the states, so that would certainly be convenient for them if something were to happen. Thanks! Still, a US safe deposit box isn't super convenient for us if we lose our passports and need to get a copy.
We have scanned our various important documents and keep them securely backed up with two separate online services that specialize in such things, but it'd be easier to tell our heirs "Our will is in Box 123 at Bank XYZ." rather than "Install this software, login with these credentials, retrieve the files located in XYZ directory, etc." The digital backups are for our convenience rather than for our heirs, hence the inquiry about the safe deposit box.
So far BEKB, UBS, and CS, though I had inquired a few years ago and the responses might no longer be up to date. At the time, all said no due to my being an American.
Maybe try MigrosBank? I am a customer there (also American). I had to buy one share of GE stock to be used as an identifier, and of course sign away my privacy rights to get the account, but compared to some other stories I've read on here it has been a breeze. Downside - all communications in either German or French.
After banks forced out their American customers in 2012 and many of us lost access to safety deposit boxes, my employer began allowing American citizen employees to use its safe at the company. We have separate locked boxes in the safe and the finance department will bring them to us on request.
The company told us that this is a temporary solution. Since it no longer hires American citizens, this solution will be discontinued when the last American leaves.
I curse the Obama Administration for criminalizing the existence of ordinary Americans abroad.
This is not the perfect solution but perhaps a stop-gap one: scan the important documents as PDFs and store them in the cloud (e.g. DropBox). At least that folder can be accessed anywhere in the world and you can share access to that folder with those you trust (e.g. a lawyer, family member etc).
I keep al documents at home in a filing cabinet. If the house burns to the ground, each item is online somewhere - as long as I can remember my passwords...
If you place your valuables in a bank vault you can only access them during normal bank opening hours so in an emergency you will be stuck.
I would, do as Meloncollie suggests, and get a home safe but with a very high fire-proof rating, and keep copies of documents online, ( I use sugarsync and the password is with my son ).
There are safety deposit box companies in Ticino not affiliated with banks, often operating from small bank offices that have been closed. This is one found by searching on "cassetta di sicurezza":
At CHF 480 + 8% VAT for the smallest box for a year, it's nearly 10 times the price was I paying at a local bank before the Hurensöhne in the Obama Administration decided to criminalize ordinary personal finance for Americans living abroad.
My employer continues to allow its remaining US citizen employees to use a safe for storing valuables but at some point that will end and I will need to find a safety deposit box. I can't imagine paying CHF 518 a year and spending an entire day traveling back and forth to Tessin just to store some documents, but it may come to that.