Can a US Treasury check that is made out to two people be endorsed by only one, and then be deposited into the joint account of the two payees? If the check is endorsed by both payees can it be deposited into the individual account of one of the payees?
Ideally, the check should be endorsed by both payees before it's deposited. However, a bank might be reluctant to accept such a check for deposit to an individual account if it is unable to verify the endorsement of the other payee. If the check is endorsed by only one of the joint payees, and that payee wants to deposit the check to a joint account of those payees, the bank might reasonably refuse because the bank can't use a special provision of law designed for the acceptance of unendorsed checks.
Banks have different policies on their acceptance of multiple payee checks -- even government checks. It's always best to contact the bank to get their advice when both payees aren't able to come to the bank with the check.
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Ideally, the check should be endorsed by both payees before it's deposited. However, a bank might be reluctant to accept such a check for deposit to an individual account if it is unable to verify the endorsement of the other payee. If the check is endorsed by only one of the joint payees, and that payee wants to deposit the check to a joint account of those payees, the bank might reasonably refuse because the bank can't use a special provision of law designed for the acceptance of unendorsed checks.