Berks Connect
Money & Insurance

Safe Deposit Box Cost in Berks County and What to Keep

What a safe deposit box costs at Berks County banks and credit unions, what to keep in one, whether it's insured, and Pennsylvania's inventory rule after a death.

Berks Connect Blog|Published October 10, 2026
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At the Berks County branches that post a price, a safe deposit box rents for $20 a year for the smallest size up to $105 a year for a large one, as of 2026. Where a bank doesn't post a price, ask the branch. A box is the right place for originals that are hard to replace. In Pennsylvania, when the person who rented the box dies, most of what's inside can't come out until the person handling the estate lists it for the state. That goes for a second name on the box too, unless the box was in the two spouses' names alone.

If you're pricing one, the branches are on our list of banks in Berks County, and a call to the one nearest you will tell you whether a box is open and what it costs.

How much does a safe deposit box cost in Berks County?

The rent is a yearly charge, and it goes by the size of the box. Where a Berks branch with boxes posts its price, the smallest box is $20 a year and the largest is $105. Among the county's credit unions, the ones that rent boxes at a Berks branch post prices from $30 up to $105, depending on the size. Where a bank doesn't post a price, ask the branch; several give a discount or a free small box with certain checking accounts, so ask before you sign.

Not every branch has boxes, and even where they do, availability varies. The table below lists Berks branches whose own pages say they have boxes, with the yearly rent where they post one. The table doesn't list every branch with boxes, so call before you drive over.

Institution Berks branches with boxes, from its own pages Yearly rent
Fleetwood Bank Every office except Wyomissing and Boyertown $20 to $95, by size
First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union Kutztown $30 to $105, by size
First National Bank of Pennsylvania Shillington (606 E. Lancaster Ave.) and 5140 Perkiomen Ave. Ask the branch; a free small box comes with some checking accounts
Fulton Bank Lists boxes as a standard service at its financial centers Ask the branch
M&T Bank Most of its Berks branches Ask the branch; sizes vary by branch
Mid Penn Bank Sinking Spring, Temple and Wyomissing Ask the branch; a discount or a free box with some checking accounts
Riverfront Federal Credit Union Museum Road branch, Wyomissing $45, $60 or $100 for its three sizes
Truist Most of its Berks branches Ask the branch; a discount or a free box with some accounts
Wells Fargo Its Berks branches Varies by size and location; ask the branch

Each row comes from the institution's own pages, read in September 2026. Boxes are subject to availability, so call first.

Where a row shows a range, it runs from the smallest box to the largest.

What to keep in a safe deposit box, and what to keep at home.

A box earns its rent on the originals of papers that are hard to replace: birth certificates, property deeds, car titles and paper savings bonds. It's also a good home for family keepsakes, valuable collections, photos you can't replace, and photos or video of your home's contents for insurance. If the house burns, that record isn't in the house.

What doesn't belong in a box is anything you might need fast or when the bank is closed. That means your passport and the originals of your power of attorney (the paper that lets someone act for you while you're alive) and your medical directives. Cash is better off in a savings account, where it's insured, and some box leases limit cash anyway. And don't keep the box number or the bank's name on or near the key.

The original will is its own question. The Berks County Register of Wills doesn't store living people's wills. Originals are usually kept by the attorney who wrote them, in a trust department's vault, or in the person's own safe deposit box, and probate needs the original. Where to keep yours is a question for the attorney who prepared it. If it's in the box, the bank can let it be taken out after a death before anything else, with a bank employee present.

Are safe deposit boxes insured in Pennsylvania?

Not the way your savings are. Deposit insurance doesn't cover what's in a box, and banks generally don't insure box contents either. Some leases also cap what you may keep in the box; one large bank's lease says the contents can't be worth more than $10,000 in total, so it's worth reading your own.

Your homeowners or renters policy may cover some of it, but a standard homeowners policy form limits cash and coins to $200, papers like deeds and securities to $1,500, and jewelry theft to $1,500, per loss. Your own policy may differ, so if you keep valuables in the box, ask your insurance agent about adding coverage for them.

Whose names should go on a safe deposit box in Pennsylvania?

You can rent a box jointly with someone, like a spouse or an adult child. That second name on the box has unrestricted access while you're alive, and the bank likely isn't responsible for what that person takes out. So the second name is someone you'd trust with everything in it. A second name is about getting into the box; whether it changes who owns what's inside is a question for your attorney.

Where the names matter most is after a death. When one spouse dies and the box was in the two spouses' names alone, no inventory is needed. A box shared with a child, or with anyone besides the spouse, falls under the rule in the next section. So a widowed parent who adds a son or daughter gives them access now, but after the parent dies, that child still goes through the notice and the inventory like anyone else. A box in both spouses' names and a child's falls under it too, because the exception is only for a box in the two spouses' names alone.

The person handling the estate doesn't need to be on the box to get in later; the notice route in the next section is how they do it.

What happens to a safe deposit box after a death in Pennsylvania?

The state cares about the box because of Pennsylvania inheritance tax, which is on what a person leaves, and what's in the box can be part of that. So when the person who rented the box dies, nobody may go into it until the contents are inventoried, not even a joint owner, unless the box was in the two spouses' names alone. The bank can let the will and the deed to a cemetery lot (not the house deed) come out right away, with a bank employee present who records what was taken.

For everything else, the usual route since 2011 works this way. The person handling the estate (the executor, or the administrator if there's no will) mails a notice to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue on form REV-1845, by U.S. mail with a return receipt, at least seven days before opening the box, and gives the bank a copy. On the date in the notice, they give the bank a signed statement that the notice was sent and open the box, and nobody from the Department or the bank has to be there. They make the inventory, a written list of everything in the box, and file it with the Department on form REV-485, the inventory form, within 20 days of opening the box.

A surviving second name on the box should be at the opening, and the estate's attorney may be. The law also allows the box to be opened without the notice when a bank employee is there to list the contents, and banks may charge for that; one posted rate is $25 an hour.

The inheritance tax return and payment are due within nine months of the death, and a 5 percent discount applies if the tax is paid within three months. This is how the process works in general; the estate's attorney or the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue answers the questions about a specific estate.

Where to rent a box in Berks County, and how your family will find it.

A box only helps your family if they know it exists. So tell the people who'll handle things which bank has the box and where the key is kept.

If you don't have a box yet, start with our list of banks in Berks County and call the branch nearest you to ask what sizes are open and what they cost.

Safe deposit box questions from Berks County.

What happens if you lose the key to a safe deposit box?

Posted charges for a lost key run $5 to $25 at institutions with Berks offices, and drilling a box open, when it comes to that, is posted at $100 to $300. A late rent charge is typically about $10.

Can someone with your power of attorney open your safe deposit box?

Only if the document grants the power to enter safe deposit boxes.

Does every bank branch in Berks County have safe deposit boxes?

No, and where they do, availability varies, so call the branch before you go.

How much is Pennsylvania inheritance tax on what's in a safe deposit box?

It depends on who inherits. It's 0 percent to a surviving spouse, 0 percent to a child aged 21 or younger from a parent, and 0 percent when a child aged 21 or younger dies and leaves property to a parent. It's 4.5 percent to direct descendants and lineal heirs, 12 percent to siblings, and 15 percent to other heirs.

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