My sister-in-law died recently and left no Will. Her brother and her mother are handling her affairs and have received two checks written to her: one a refund from her rental agent for her apartment deposit and a refund from the cable company. Can they be deposited in her retail bank account by writing the account number on the back of the check? Will her mother and brother be able to collect those monies when the account is closed out? The estate was very small, and we are not talking about large amounts of money. In the state of California, it is my understanding that only an affadavit provided by the family is necessary to claim the funds along with a copy of the death certificate.
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Legally, the funds represented by those checks are now the property of your sister-in-law's estate. As you may imagine, that can present complications and delays.
From a very practical perspective, it's entirely possible that the bank will allow you to deposit the checks to your sister-in-law's old account. It's not the legally correct way to handle things, but if there is no other claim on your sister-in-law's estate, there's not likely to be anyone who will object to the deposit.
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Legally, the funds represented by those checks are now the property of your sister-in-law's estate. As you may imagine, that can present complications and delays.