A check payable to a deceased individual is properly payable only to that individual's estate, and it would require the endorsement of the estate's legal representative, normally an executor or administrator. It should be deposited to an account of the estate. Unless the check was endorsed by the estate and transferred to the adult child you refer to, it can't be deposited to the account that the adult child once shared by the decedent, because the account is now the sole property of the adult child (it's not owned by the estate) even if the parent's name still appears on the bank's records. You can arrange to have the check reissued if there is to be no probate of the estate, as might be the case if the parent's assets are too few or of little value to warrant the expense of probate, or you can give the check to the representative of the estate.
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A check payable to a deceased individual is properly payable only to that individual's 