How can I Deposit a Check made out to my Dead Mother?

If you have a check at home that was written for someone who has since passed away, then it can be difficult to know what to do with that check.

The person who was supposed to receive it cannot cash it in, and technically speaking, you cannot cash in a check for another person. But, do the circumstances change if that person has passed away?

Yes, it does! It is possible to cash a check for someone that has passed away, and this is very easy to do.

In most cases, you will be able to legally cash the check, and receive the money that was destined for the deceased person. In fact, if you are the person who deposits the check, then you will usually be the one to receive the funds. 

However, if the estate of that person is currently in probate, then you might run into financial problems during the process. This is because an estate that is in probate is unresolved, and so, the money that is deposited when that check is cashed in also makes part of that estate.

So, yes, you can cash a check for someone who has died, but you might not receive the funds.  

When someone passes away, and you have to sort through their belongings, you will often find things that you didn’t even realize existed.

When you are sorting through boxes of belongings, it isn’t all that surprising that you may run into an old check that was never cashed in. That check could be for $10, or it could be for $10,000, so you might be tempted to cash it in. 

If you find a check that was written for your deceased mother, then you can cash it in. You should do this as you would any regular check, and visit your mother’s bank for any support.

There is nothing stopping you from cashing that check, but you might not end up receiving the money.
 
There are two things that will impact whether a check destined for the deceased will be deposited successfully. They are whether the account is still open, or not, and if the check is still valid.

Most banks close the account of a deceased individual as soon as they find out that that person has passed. So, this will prevent the check from being cashed in. Additionally, most checks are only valid for 6 months. 

So, while you can deposit a check made out to your deceased mother, there is nothing to guarantee that that check will be accepted, and you may not receive the figure on the check. 

While you might struggle to get the check of a deceased parent honored, the executor of your parent’s estate will be able to deposit that check successfully.

This is because the executor is a legal representative of the estate, so they have the right to conduct activities that might impact that estate. Depositing a check for a cash value is definitely an activity that affects the estate. 

However, in the case where an executor has a check that was made out to the deceased, the check is not actually deposited.

Instead, these checks are deposited into the estate’s checking account. From there, they then become part of the estate’s cash pool. This cash pool is then divided evenly between the beneficiaries of the estate once the probate has been completed. 

So, yes, an executor can deposit a check made out to the deceased. However, they will not deposit the check in the same way that a regular person would. Instead, that check forms part of the estate’s checking account.