I have been divorced for five years and have been paying the mortgage on the house. I am going to be getting an escrow check, and since my ex's name is still on the mortgage, the check will be made out to both of us. I have a custodial account with my name and our son's name. Can I endorse this check on my own and deposit it into our son's account? My ex owes me child support and has declared bankruptcy and has not made any mortgage payments in five years. He is not entitled to this money, but I don't want to forge his signature. Can I just write for deposit only and deposit it into our son's account?
The issues of what's fair and your ex-husband's delinquent child support payments are quite beside the point when it comes to negotiating the check. If the check is payable to both you and your ex-husband, and the word "and" or an ampersand ("&") appears between them on the check, you cannot legally deposit or cash the check without his endorsement.
You'll have to get his endorsement first, even if it means taking him to court to compel him to sign. Don't forge his signature, because he can make matters worse for you when he finds out about it.
BankingQuestions.com is a free service made possible by the generous support of our advertisers. Advertisers are not responsible for site content. Please help us keep BankingQuestions.com FREE by supporting our advertisers. When you see an ad for a product or service you may have an interest in, click through to learn more.
Accounts
Article
Q&A
Podcast
Video
Blog
Discussions
PDF
Powerpoint
The issues of what's fair and your ex-husband's delinquent child support payments are quite beside the point when it comes to negotiating the check. If the check is payable to both you and your ex-husband, and the word "and" or an ampersand ("&") appears between them on the check, you cannot legally deposit or cash the check without his endorsement.