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My father just passed and he left me his belongings, including uncashed travelers checks. How can I get them cashed since they were signed by my dad and not me?

Nosrac
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Donni Forgie
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    Which vendor? American Express? Or someone else? The answer is almost certainly going to be some variant of "call the vendor". – Brythan Mar 27 '17 at 22:52
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    I'm sorry for your loss. You'll likely need at least the death certificate and a statement from the probate court that you're the sole heir or that as part of partitioning his estate, you received the travelers checks. – mkennedy Mar 28 '17 at 00:05
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    Where are you located? – user Mar 28 '17 at 14:26
  • I believe the estate can cash them. You'll need probate for that. – Loren Pechtel Mar 28 '17 at 23:10

1 Answers1

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This generally goes one of a few ways, so I've put them in the order to try them:

  1. Ask your own personal bank, explaining that you were left these by your deceased father and you want to know if you can just deposit them into your account. If they can't right away, they should be able to tell you what they think they would need to be able to do so. Depending on your local processes, if they are already signed but not made out to a specific person it may not matter who signed them as they are paid to the bearer or who is in the "to" line (if there is one).
  2. You can call to ask the vendor of the check, for which there is often an 800-number on the back (or front), and ask them if there is something you can do through them.
  3. If there was an executor of the estate and a bank account was already established to process and distribute funds, they may be able to cash the checks for you and distribute the proceeds in a check made out to you directly. The same exact process is involved with money orders and checks made out to the deceased, and any other related property that may be in the deceased's name.
  4. If you can't fix it with one of the above 'easy ways', what you'll probably need to do is request the court that handled probate for your father for a letter explicitly granting you the right to claim the funds that the checks represent. If there was no executor for your fathers estate or it was just you (common the cases of small estates with minimal residual value or no large property), you will need to open a probate account with your bank, and the letter from the court will give you permission to deposit the checks and then withdraw the money after sufficient time has passed to clear the check. You can talk with your local probate court clerk and they can guide you in what you need to do if this was a small/no estate case. You generally only need a lawyer for larger estates, but if thousands of dollars are involved you might want to seriously consider speaking with a probate lawyer.
BrianH
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