I had en employee pass away suddenly and we are now mailing out her unused vacation time to "The Estate of.
(Oh yeah, by the way, I work in Human Resources, and have been his main contact trying to get all her benefits wrapped up, etc.)
Anyway, he called me today and told me that someone told him he had to set up an "estate" account in order to get this check cashed. Is that true, especially if he is her spouse? That sounds ludicrous to me.
And, get this, my CFO and payroll manager at my company don't want to touch this question with a 10 foot poll, but I wanted to try and give him some guidance..he has been through hell and back losing his wife so suddenly.
Anyone know anything about this? Thanks in advance. Fortunately, this is not something I have to deal with every day. I would rather not tell him "go talk to your lawyer" if at all possible. Thanks.
Answer:
If the check is payable to "the estate of." then he will have to set up an estate. You may wish to issue a check to Mrs. Doe and/or Mr. Doe. That way, her name is on the check to cover your behind, but his name is on the check and he can cash it. The use of AND only would mean they both have to sign (not practical in this case) but the use of OR means only one of them has to sign. Tell Mr. Doe that you will issue another check, and you will trade with him. Make sure you get the "estate" check back before you give him the new one though.
If they had a joint account, he should just deposit it.
It is common banking practice that a cheque can only go into an account in the name of the payee - in this case 'The Estate of Jane Doe'.
Why on earth didn't you make the cheque out to the woman's husband as he is the sole beneficiary.....
Would it be possible just to have the check made out to her? If he had a joint account with her, he would be able to deposit it without endorsement.
The entity cashing the check has to be the same entity to whom the check was written. You could make the checks out to the widower (instead of the "Estate of Deceased" in the Pay to the order of line) and no such account would be necessary
All this time I thought HR KNEW ALL about this kind of thing. Learn something new everyday!
I'm glad I don't have a HR dept. to deal with!
I don't think you can even give him the check until it has been through the court system. I would be very careful. For more info., call an attorney. Your company should have a lawyer who would be happy to guide you.
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