When my aunt died the refund check was paid in her name. The bank won't accept the check. Any advice?

Irene I live in Canada but we have run into that same problem here with cheques issued to my Mom after her death. Her bank acct. was frozen immediately and as her POA when she was alive all financial matters were turned over to my sister who is executor of my Mom's will etc. Until probate is completed I have still been able to deposit cheques. Afterwards I don't believe so. Who is executor of your Aunt's estate? Check with them.

I s someone personal representative or POA? They could cash the check. After my Dad died, my brother was personal rep, and he took care of all that.

My mom passed in sept. There was no probation since she had nothing left. Refund from her insurance plan came ame made
Out to " the estate of" . When I explained to them there was no "estate" they reissued it to me.
But the assisted living is arguing w me about her deposit of 5 k refund even though all her Bodypayments came from me, my name, my checks. The banks in PA would not budge even though I showed then I was her so sec representative payee. Anyone in similar situation?

I suggest you ask the bank about the reason for refusing to accept the check. Ask them to be specific, including where that policy is written and ask for a copy of the policy. If you understand their basis, then you will have a better chance putting a fight. Banks are notoriously risk adverse. So they might be doing a CYA, especially if your mother's account does not have sufficient funds in it all ready to cover the amount of the check. Banks don't like any sort of risk.
You might consider asking an attorney whether the bank has a legitimate position. But don't ask an attorney with a close relationship with the bank. Also don't pay much for the attorney's opinion.
If your bank has several branches and you can make a deposit through an ATM, then try depositing the check and see what happens. It might slide past the electronic screening. But don't use your mother's ATM card, because the bank is likely to recognize that card.
Also, could her younger sister make the check payable to you? Then you would deposit it in your separate account. It might work and it might not. Don't spend the funds for at least two weeks. Remember a bank is never on your side--unless you are a large depositor.

My bank (in U.S.) said they cannot cash or deposit in one's account, any check not made out to the individual presenting the check.

Did she have a Will? A POA is no longer legal once someone dies, the executor of the estate will need to set up an executor account. If there is not a Will you will need to address in Probate.

I believe the reason this happens is that payments to a deceased person are subject to the claims of creditors of the estate. So I'm guessing that somebody will need to fill out papers at the courthouse to be appointed administrator of the estate (if she didn't name an executor) and will have to accept and pay out money pursuant to the probate court rules.

Some states have a procedure that you can go through in the Estates division that allows you to open a file in order to resolve small issues, like funds under $10,000.00. The paperwork is pretty simple and you don't have to go through a lot of requirements like filing publications, etc. It's basically a way to get money paid in that was owed to the decedent. I would contact an attorney and/or the Estates office in the county of her residence and ask about what is sometimes called the Small Estate filing. There are actually a couple of them and one requires no filing fee in my state.

I know some people who had to do this. It's difficult to get an company to issue a check in the name of anyone other than the named payable party. They may issue it to the Estate of the decedent, but you would need an Estate bank account to deposit it, which you can't get without an estate case being opened. Good luck.

Although everything regarding my deceased husband has been resolved, I am going to copy and paste all the advice given here and attach it to the papers I'm giving to my son regarding final financial matters after my death. I may even decide to consult a lawyer even though I think I don't need a will.

I deposited several checks made out to mom after she passed. Of course, I didn't let the bank KNOW she'd passed. That was on the advice of my attorney. I went theuru the drive-thru.

I was the only person inheriting from mom, her only child. What I was doing was for convenience. If one is doing same in order to secret funds or for any other nefarious reason, that would be a bad thing.

Folks, you don't have to run to the bank and tell them someone has passed.

My lawyer also advised me that when my 90-yr old parent dies, don't tell the bank. Remove all contents from safe deposit boxes ASAP. Banks can be finicky and bank staff often are not knowledgeable about the laws in this area. Talk to a lawyer about your parent's bank issues and your own estate-now. Too many middle age people wait too long and an accident causes irreversible financial problems. Investing in a good estate lawyer now can save you thousands later, and more importantly give you & your family peace of mind.

I represented the heirs of a person who died before receiving a large settlement check. Again, it was made out to the deceased. We had to open a probate case just to get the check cashed. As mentioned by others, here, under state law there may be creditors that need to be paid before the estate can be distributed among the heirs (if no will) or beneficiaries (if there IS a will). Most states have a quick and inexpensive version of probate that you can use, hopefully.

I'm in Canada. When my mother passed I didn't tell her bank, however you have to advise various government authorities, such as SS. Her account, which didn't have a lot in it, was immediately frozen so the bank received the information from elsewhere.

I have a refund cheque from the NH made payable to "the estate of ..." and when the government death benefit arrives it will likely be made payable the same way. I have spoken with her bank. All I have to do is go to her bank with the two cheques payable to the estate of along with a notarial copy of her Will showing me to be the executor and sole beneficiary and they will wind things up on the spot.

Arianne, everyone should have a will even of its just a simple one
You can make it up yourself and sign it in front of a notary. That way your son will have no problems. If you dont have a large estate you dont need a lawyer to draw it up. Print one yourself naming your son sole heir if that is the case and he will be all set. But as I said sign in front of notary

Have you closed the account at the bank? Why can't you just deposit it? That's what I did. Of course, there was no "estate" but I did not close my Mom's checking account (my name was on the account) for a bit just to keep confusion down.

You go to the county court house and fill out the "voluntary administration of a small estate" form, that allows you to deposit the check in an estate account to pay bills.

Can the sister check with the bank to see what the reason was for not accepting the refund check? They can always put a hold on the account and not let anything be cashed out of the account until the refund check clears. It could take up to 2-3 weeks for this to happen so the sister needs to be in a position to not need any of the remaining funds if they should do that. Also can the sister go back to the person that issued the check and have them re-issue the check to "deceased OR sister" names, that way she could deposit it to the account or to her own account. I was the administratrix for my late husband's checking account after going to court to be named as such. I received several checks and deposited to his account that was made out to him even though I wasn't an owner of his account. Some states have different policies than others and you should consult an estate attorney or elder care attorney because you or the sister won't want someone coming back to claim something after the probate is finished. In my state, I received notice that it wouldn't be going thru probate because there wasn't a sizable amount of money. Just last paychecks and that sort of thing. I think going to an ATM and depositing thru the machine may be an answer as well. I think ADCaregivers is right and it wouldn't hurt to try the machine. I would go to another bank than your usual one to deposit it though. Once you make noises about the banks' failure to accept the money, they will be watching the account to catch anything even though you aren't trying to do anything illegal. I've been in more than one argument with the bank about the fact that I'm trying to put money IN an account, not take money OUT of an account. Be ready for them to put a hold on the account though. Good luck in getting this resolved. LaDivina1, have you read the papers to see if your mom signed anything that stated the AL could keep all monies left over if she passed away while living there? That doesn't seem right that they could keep the 5K deposit even though she is no longer there. You may need to go to small claims court and let a judge handle it or consult an elder care attorney to see if he/she can get it back for you.

Be careful acting as POA after the person is deceased. In some states the POA authority is terminated upon the death of the party and there is no authority any longer.

Ask to speak to the bank manager.

It has always been that banks will accept deposits into another person's account by anyone! Recently, something has changed though. Sorry, just not sure what that is, by banking laws.

I think it was the Patriot Act, sendme2help. Third party checks could no longer be accepted.

ramiller --
Thank you for your advice. I will act upon it.

A Power Of Attorney (POA)s are void at the time of Death of the deceased person for whom you had a POA. Only an Executor or Court Appointee can take charge of an Estate.