My cousin received a check that was made payable to the estate of my aunt, c/o my cousin. When she went to deposit it, she was told it had to have an estate account. She closed out my aunt's accounts months before. How can she deposit this check?
A check payable to a deceased individual or to the estate of such an individual can properly be negotiated only by the personal representative of the estate. Given the circumstances surrounding your question, your cousin could attempt to have the check re-issued to her as next-of-kin (some issuers may agree to such a request). If that can't be accomplished, and assuming there has been no estate settlement process opened, your cousin can weigh the costs and time involved in opening the estate with the probate court vs. the dollar amount of the check and decide whether to make the effort.
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
A check payable to a deceased individual or to the estate of such an individual can properly be negotiated only by the personal representative of the estate. Given the circumstances surrounding your question, your cousin could attempt to have the check re-issued to her as next-of-kin (some issuers may agree to such a request). If that can't be accomplished, and assuming there has been no estate settlement process opened, your cousin can weigh the costs and time involved in opening the estate with the probate court vs. the dollar amount of the check and decide whether to make the effort.
