A. An adverse claim to the contents of a safe deposit box, or to property held in safekeeping, is not sufficient to require the lessor to deny access to its lessee unless:
(1) the lessor is directed to do so by a court order issued in an action in which the lessee is served with process and named as a party by a name which identifies him with the name in which the safe deposit box is leased or the property held; or
(2) the safe deposit box is leased or the property is held in the name of a lessee with the addition of words indicating that the contents or property are held in a fiduciary capacity, and the adverse claim is supported by an affidavit stating facts disclosing that it is made by or on behalf of a beneficiary and that there is a reason to believe that the fiduciary may misappropriate the trust property.
B. A claim is also adverse where one of several lessees claims, contrary to the terms of the lease, an exclusive right of access, or where one or more persons claim a right of access as agents or officers of a lessee to the exclusion of others as agents or officers, or where it is claimed that a lessee is the same person as one using another name.
History: 1953 Comp., § 48-22-15, enacted by Laws 1963, ch. 305, § 15.
ANNOTATIONSAm. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 10 Am. Jur. 2d Banks § 506.
Bank's or safe deposit company's liability for denying access to box, 4 A.L.R.3d 1462.