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Home >> Checks/Money Orders >> Checks You Received
Depositing Joint Check into Non-Joint Account
Both my wife and I endorsed a check made out to the both of us for deposit into a non-joint account. The bank told me that her signature was not good enough and that "joint checks" cannot be deposited into "non-joint" accounts. What's the correct answer?
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 Well, there is what the law permits, and what the bank adopts as policy. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, a check payable to you jointly and endorsed by each of you is eligible for deposit to an account in either name or both names (if there's no other wording with the endorsements, it would be eligible for deposit to anyone's account for that matter!)
However, banks are becoming more wary of accepting for deposit jointly-payable checks, even when both payees have endorsed them. That's because the bank doesn't have a way to verify that the non-customer endorsement is legitimate (aside from your assurances, of course). Couple that discomfort with the endorsements with the fact that a bank can decide which checks it will accept for deposit and which it won't, and you arrive at the difficult impasse you have described.
Contact your bank to ask whether they'd consider accepting the check for deposit if your wife personally visits the bank to verify her identity and her signature. They may still say "No," but you won't know unless you ask. If that fails, it would appear you have two options left: open a joint account (which you may find convenient for other reasons, or which you may not want to do for one reason or another), or ask the party who wrote you the check to replace it with one payable only to you.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 6/27/07
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