My cousin's sister put their mothers dividend check for the estate into her own account. What happens now?

How did the sister get hold of the check?

And to whom was the check made payable? Did the sister forge her mother's signature? Some banks, however, don't require endorsement of checks unless the depositor is getting cash back.

Are there any accounts which the sister and mother hold jointly?

The Executor has to issue individual checks to each heir. Now you have to explain what you did to the probate court.

I sent separate checks to each heir. Mother / daughter do not share the account the money was put into.

Are you saying daughter has POA for her mother so she was able to deposit her cheque? If that is how it happened then it seems to me you did everything you were supposed to, the problem is beyond your scope of responsibility. Unless you want to push the issue?

There is no POA. The mother wants her money.

I would say contact APS immediately and even the bank where your sister put the money. If you have to show up on their doorstep, do so. I would also make a police report as well

So the OP physically sent two separate checks, one for her cousin and one for her aunt, to the address where, presumably, they both live. And the cousin has taken the aunt's check and deposited it in her own account, notwithstanding that the check was not made out to her.

Are you sure this is in fact what has happened? Have you spoken to your cousin about it? Have you checked that the check has been deposited, even?

Yes, are you sure of your facts? I find it hard to believe that a bank allowed someone to deposit a cheque made out to someone else - especially one for a substantial amount - into their account. Have you actually asked the daughter about it?

I think you need to provide more details. From what I am reading --- A divident check related to your cousin's estate was deposited by your cousin's siter but should have been split between the sister and cousin's Mom. YES? If this is the scenario, was the estate settled or did it go through probate when this happened. All probate related assets should have gone to the estate account until the estate was settled and accounts retitled.
Choices I see: Ask the cousin to return half the check or get in touch with the institution that sent the check and notify them that it was cashed by the wrong party. They may try to get it back. Your cousin (sister of the deceased) should know that cashing the check is fraud and she may be held accountable.
Either this happened immediately after the death of your cousin, or you as executor failed to secure the assets of the estate. Either way, it needd to be remedied or you will not be able to close the estate. Keep usposted.

What kind of dividend check? Maybe the daughter has a bank account with her mother. Have you tried talking with her about this matter? Maybe she intends to give her mother half the money. Communication, communication, communication.

It was a mistake of the bank to allow deposit of the check into the account of someone who was not the named payee. I would start out by going to the bank, first. If you cannot get any resolution from them (i.e., reimbursement of the full amount of the check), then you must demand reimbursement from the sister. Unfortunately, if she refuses, you will have to hire an attorney at least to send a demand letter to the sister. Frequently that is sufficient to get the desired result without having to go through the costs of a full-blown legal action in court.

Wait a minute. I have specifically asked this question of Chase. The computers run checks deposited and do not care what or who the addressee is, only that the money from the check giver clears. It doesn't care what the printing says, only the numbers at the bottom of the check.

Not always the case, Ferris. I deposited Mom's check into my account because our joint account does not have electronic deposit (the plan was to transfer the money to that account) It was rejected y the bank because the payee name did not match the account holder.

Yes, I should have clarified checks deposited in an ATM.

Yes, joint accounts is something to consider. However, if this was not a joint account then someone's in very serious trouble

You're going to have to hire an attorney or should hire an attorney.

I believe you can deposit checks that are not assigned to you by writing something like "for Mrs. Jones," e. g. on the back of the check.

If the check was made out to the mother and the daughter deposited into her account that is theft. The bank should not have deposited it unless the mother signed it over to the daughter. You need to get the copy of the check and see how it was endorsed. If the daughter forged it you may need the mother with you to prove its not her signature. Bank may be held liable. Suppose to ask for ID.

I had a check that I deposited in an ATM get misread by the scanner and credited for the wrong amount. I called the bank immediately and was told that when the ATM is cleared out, someone physically looks at the checks. They are not supposed to accept a check being deposited to another name, even if the payee is the right party. I had a bank refuse a check made out to an older format of my business name, and I had to prove it was really mine and modify the name on my business fictitious name filing and on the bank account. Banks also no longer accept 2-party checks so even if the sister forged her mom's name and then signed it over to herself the bank shouldn't have cashed it. You need to go the bank in question and if necessary, to the appropriate bank examiners.

If you’re saying you mailed a separate check to the Mom, in her name, and the sister took her Mom’s check and deposited it in her own account, that just sounds like an open/shut case of theft! I’d guess a visit to the police to file a complaint for theft would fill that bill? And – the bank should also be responsible, potentially for paying the money back if the daughter has spent it, because they improperly deposited the check into the wrong account. Sheesh – some people are just rotten!

You say you were "an executor". Who were the other executors? And where is it written that you were supposed to distribute the dividend check between the two of them? Who was the dividend check made out to?

If your cousin's sister deposited the check & has no intention of distributing the proper amounts to her mother, you should contact your cousin's sister & tell her that unless she gives your mother the money she is entitled to, you are going to call the police & file a complaint for theft. Depending on how much the dividend check is, she could be looking at a grand larceny charge.

Elder abuse.