Checks not in my name! HELP!

ccny778 · December 2012

Hi All --

So my wedding is January 20th and we are currently receiving RSVPs. We received one regret with a very generous monetary gift. The check is made out to "Wife and Husband Smith" - which will be my married name, but it's not my name now! How do we deposit it? We have not set up any sort of joint account yet.

Any advice welcome!

Thanks!

itzMS · December 2012

Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to cash it until after you are married. It really does depend on how strict your bank is. Some will have you both endorse and do "For Deposit Only".

This is a common annoyance for couples getting married! DH & I and several of our friends all went through this. Ugghhh, it does suck.

Just my opinion...but I would definitely suggest you set up a joint account with your FI though, ASAP, if only for the purposes of making cashing your wedding checks a bit easier.

bunni727 · December 2012

You can set up a joint account, and have your FI deposit it. If his name is on it he can deposit it, even if it is written to both of you.

Amanda1443994 · December 2012

I actually didn't have a problem cashing any checks. I kept my maiden name and all guests still wrote Mr. & Mrs. H Last Name. My H didn't even have to sign the back. I signed the backs of all the checks and deposited them into my personal account. If you think it will be a problem, though, you both sign the checks or just deposit them in your husbands account and if you really want to put some of the money in yours, he can write you a check.

B2Z728 · December 2012

I'd check with your bank.

H and I have a joint personal account. We double checked with the bank first and all we had to do was both sign the check and it wasn't a problem. Worst case, your FI could probably just deposit it in his personal account if you sign the check as well.

p.s. your wedding is on my birthday

GoodLuckBear14 · December 2012

Ask your bank. DH and I never combined finances, I kept my name and one of us was always able to deposit wedding checks - even the ones written out to "GLB DH'sLASTNAME" - but only for a short time after the wedding. When my mom did this on a check she gave us last Christmas, my bank would not even deposit it.

itzMS · December 2012

<div align="left">In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_checks-not-in-my-name-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:34Discussion:2bae5287-6b8d-475c-b767-950506796b73Post:a992533c-614e-4e67-b847-fe61884db3c3">Re: Checks not in my name! HELP!</a>:
[QUOTE]You can set up a joint account, and have your FI deposit it. If his name is on it he can deposit it, even if it is written to both of you.
Posted by bunni727[/QUOTE]

Not necessarily true. It does depend on the bank's local policy.

My DH was only able to cash those checks written out to Mr <strong>OR</strong> Mrs ItsMS, but not ones written out to Mr <strong>AND</strong> Mrs ItsMS.</div>

MyNameIsNot · December 2012

You should go to your bank together and talk to the teller.

I didn't change my name, but we received checks to myfirst & hisfirst hislast. The bank told us that since it had his name on it, he could cash/deposit it. It didn't matter that myfirst hislast is a non-existent person.

HobokensFury · December 2012

We didn't have a problem cashing checks. DH signed is name on them.

GustieRx · December 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_checks-not-in-my-name-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:2bae5287-6b8d-475c-b767-950506796b73Post:92f52904-cf42-4058-925e-805129f32ae1">Re: Checks not in my name! HELP!</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Checks not in my name! HELP! : Not necessarily true. It does depend on the bank's local policy. My DH was only able to cash those checks written out to Mr OR Mrs ItsMS, but not ones written out to Mr AND Mrs ItsMS.
Posted by itzMS[/QUOTE]

<div>This! Our bank would only allow it if it was Mr. OR Mrs. LastName. I did change my name, but until I had the paperwork we weren't able to deposit the checks written to Mr. AND Mrs. W. </div>

thurmanpowell · December 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_checks-not-in-my-name-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:2bae5287-6b8d-475c-b767-950506796b73Post:92f52904-cf42-4058-925e-805129f32ae1">Re: Checks not in my name! HELP!</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Checks not in my name! HELP! : Not necessarily true. It does depend on the bank's local policy. My DH was only able to cash those checks written out to Mr OR Mrs ItsMS, but not ones written out to Mr AND Mrs ItsMS.
Posted by itzMS[/QUOTE]

I was just going to post this myself! Mr OR MRS will get cashed, MR AND MRS and you'll likely have to prove to the bank you're married.

EK2013 · December 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_registering-gifts_checks-not-in-my-name-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:34Discussion:2bae5287-6b8d-475c-b767-950506796b73Post:35e8c3a3-d544-4baf-8f00-52fb3830702c">Checks not in my name! HELP!</a>:
[QUOTE]Hi All -- So my wedding is January 20th and we are currently receiving RSVPs. We received one regret with a very generous monetary gift. The check is made out to "Wife and Husband Smith" - which will be my married name, but it's not my name now! How do we deposit it? We have not set up any sort of joint account yet. Any advice welcome! Thanks!
Posted by ccny778[/QUOTE]

<div>DH and I had no trouble putting checks with either take on my name into a joint account we'd made with my maiden name. While we did this after the wedding, nothing had really changed. I still haven't changed my name legally. Oops.</div>

RailWayWife · December 2012

B2Z728 your picture is stunning!

lls31 · December 2012

We got married last month. We still do not have a joint account and I still have not legally changed my name on anything. We both signed any checks written out to "Mr. and Mrs. Lastname" and deposited them in my bank account with no trouble at all.

LDubHawksFan · December 2012

We got checks made out to each of us, with his name & my maiden name, and to our married name. I took the ones with my maiden name on them, and FI took the others, and our banks allowed us to deposit them.

[Deleted User] · December 2012

We receive checks written out a variety of ways. When we opened a joint savings account for them, we endorsed all of them at the bank with the representative. He told me to sign as was listed on the check and took them all no problem. My name change is almost final, but it won't be set until Friday at the DMV and they didn't have any problem.

kristinanddan · December 2012

Just write FOR DEPOSIT ON LY on the back with your account number. DH and I did not have a joint checking account and we put all the checks we received into his checking account this way.

krichards0527 · December 2012

So to add to the confusion- our joint account was opened through Ally... which means it is online and there will be no teller to consult. Yikes. I will call customer service when it is closer to the wedding, but these issues never occured to me! Thanks for posting this thread!

Peledreamsofrain · December 2012

I

have worked in banking for many years, and the answer to your question is dependant on a couple of variables.

The first variable is how the check is written. The absolute worst scenario is if it is written " Mrs Smith AND Mr. Smith". That means that both names have to be signed for on the back (as written on the front), and some banks require that both names be on the account it goes into as well. If those rules are not followed, the bank can potentially reject the deposit (In this case, "for deposit only" potentially would not work).

The second way (and best imo) a check can be written is "Mrs. Smith OR Mr. Smith". The OR means that either person written on the check can take possession of the item. So you could sign your name (again, it has to match how it appears on the front), he signs his, then deposits into his account since his name matches the check. Easy peasy.

There are other variables on this AND OR theme, but the rules remain the same:
Banks are looking for the names on the account to match the names on the check - more strictly so in AND situations (BOTH must match, not just one). Unfortunately "for deposit only" will not fix that.

Now, if you really need the money, and you have the worst case scenario, here is how you fill out the item:

Sign the back exactly as the front is written: Mrs. Smith Mr. Smith
Below that, PRINT "Pay to the order of: Mrs. Yourname, Mr. Smith."
Below that, sign again: Mrs. Yourname, Mr. Smith.

With the above writing, you are essentially signing the check over to yourself, then acknowledging reciept. Go inside the branch with this one, it is not a transaction that can be handled with an ATM or with drivethrough, and will require IDs.

Checks not in my name! HELP!

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