<p>Officially, one could just sign a check and hand it over to another person to cash. There would likely be a hold on this however. Signing it and writing “Pay to the order of [person’s name]” also works, but either of those would require going to a teller as most electronic ways of accepting checks disregard restrictive endorsements.</p>
<p>A 14 year old can definitively have a checking account provided they have an adult as a joint owner of an account; I’ve had one through a credit union since I was either 11 or 14.</p>
<p>“The bank where the check was written” does not mean the specific branch, just the specific bank. A lot of corporations write checks with branch addresses in SD, AZ, NV, DE, and GA as many banks have relocated commercial banking operations to those states for regulatory purposes.</p>
<p>If possible, I would highly suggest having your son’s check direct deposited. It saves a lot of hassle, all but eliminates the need to go into a bank branch, gets your money to you quicker, and saves the bank money in processing costs. Some employers will now only pay employees via direct deposit or prepaid debit cards.</p>
<p>While many financial institutions will include the cost of checks when opening an account, you can decline to purchase the checks as there are now few places where one needs a check and there are plenty of third party check printing services, including those used by the financial institution where you’re opening an account.</p>
<p>You can definitely open an account for him, even at 14 - but you will have to be on the account as the “cosigner” or “joint owner” or whatever term the bank uses. I know my parents opened several bank accounts for me (with my name as the primary accountholder) as a child, one as an infant even! Once I turned 18, one call the bank removed their names from the account. Simples enough.</p>
<p>So I echo the supporters of opening a bank account of his own. If you are strongly opposed to that, you can always cash a check at the bank where the check is issued.</p>
<p>It is not a bank I recognize which makes me doubt that there’s a branch close enough by for him to get to afterschool. Direct deposit wasn’t offered.</p>
<p>Chase has HS student checking account that is linked to a parent(s) acct. We used to have it for D. When she became a college student we changed it to Student Checking.</p>
<p>CuriousJane, he can sign the check over to you. My sister used to do that for my mom. just have him write pay to the order of curiousjane and sign it.</p>
<p>THat being said, doesn’t he even have a savings account? I had a bank account since I was born. I like to joke that my parents did that before they bought me a crib.</p>
<p>Please be aware that if you cosign for an account you need to be with him to make withdrawls and such (unless of course they give him a debit card). This also does not end at 18, you still are in control of his account after that. I was pretty mad at my bank for this. </p>
<p>I was 21 and went to remove money from my account and they refused to let me do it. Said I needed my mother. I offered to call her, they refused and said she had to be present. They were really rude about it. If i had a debit card I could have just walked over to the ATM and they wouldn’t have said a word. They never once sent me anything at 18 telling me I had to close out my account and open a new adult account. I repaid them for their lovely generosity by driving all the way home, getting my mom, coming back and closing out my account with thousands of dollars in it. I took it elsewhere where they are actually pleasant to deal with. My new bank is open saturdays and sundays and is fabulous.</p>
<p>Also, kudos to your son for having a job at 14!</p>
<p>SBB…both of my kids had Bank of America e accounts and they HATED them. There just were times they needed to work with a teller and with the ebanking, they had to pay to do this. </p>
<p>Personally, I don’t see anything wonderful about any Bank of America account…their customer service is…well…awful.</p>
<p>The OP needs to simply take the kid,with her to HER bank. They will the kid to sign over the check of he is with her. In the olden days, a kid could write “pay to the order of my mom” and they would…but that doesn’t seem to be the case any longer.</p>
<p>A couple of months ago, my son needed several checks cashed. I just had him endorse them, and I endorsed them below, and I deposited them using the ATM. I probably had him write, “Pay to the order of:” below his name. It never occurred to me that this might be a problem. I haven’t heard anything about it.</p>
<p>I had custodial accounts for both of my children. It is technically my account, and I deposit and withdraw from it, but the money is theirs. When my oldest turned 18, he became the owner of it. We went down to the bank together and took my name off of it. Custodial accounts don’t usually have monthly fees for small balances as long at the parent has a regular account at the bank.</p>
<p>These custodial accounts are savings, not checking.</p>
<p>We likewise had custodial savings accounts for the kids from the time they were small. When the oldest turned 18 and was going off to college, we were able to add a checking account complete with debit card. On the advice of the bank, we kept me on as a joint holder so I could add money easily (and review the statements that first year). It worked well.</p>
It is my recollection from Commecial Transactions years ago that banks are obligated to accept such checks–they may put a hold on it until it clears the issuing bank. Perhaps that has changed–my guess is that banks want to discourage this, but they may technically have to accept it. Call the bank and ask them what specifically to write on the check–don’t ask them if you can do it or not.</p>
<p>We kept the custodial accounts our kids held with us in OUR names until they completed their last FAFSA. No point in having their assets tapped at 20% when parent assets are 5.6%.</p>
<p>Everyone is making this much harder than this has to be. As long as you have enough in your account to cover theck, your bank SHOULD cash it. Now, they may put a hold on it for a few days, but you DO NOT have to bring your son with you. Your son just needs to sign the back, he does not have to put “pay to the order or anything”, just his signature, and then you sign under him. I was a teller while I was in college.</p>
<p>Also be sure when signing, that you sign in the proper area on the back of check. Banks got really picky about this many years ago. There is a line on the back, to tell you where to endorse.</p>
<p>YMMV. My bank will do it for me, but not likely for my kids, and I don’t know about the amounts. Some banks have added some policies not permitting this. Some stricter than others. I 've heard that Bankamerica has particularly made this difficult, whereas at my bank, it’s at the discretion of the manager. My son could not deposit a check I endorsed over to him, but I called the bank, and the manager did an over ride for him. But with his bank status, nope, they would not. </p>
<p>My SIL has had the issue too, and has found that if she mingles such a check with other straight out checks, she has no trouble, at least so she reports to me. I don’t run into this issue much, so I don’t know what the current status is, but as of about a year ago, these have been our experiences. So what SHOULD happen, may not. The bank flat out refused to take the check at all from my son until I called. No holds, nothing. They declined the check because it was not made out to him and they felt the amount which was about a thousand was more than they would let go by on a check made out to someone else and endorsed over to him. So as I started out with this, YMMV.</p>
<p>He doesn’t need to be there for you to open up an account for him. </p>
<p>I’m surprised he doesn’t all ready have his own savings account. It’s no wonder why so many young adults are clueless to necessary real life skills.</p>
<p>Directed toward future parents: Open up a savings account for your child when they are young. Teach them how to save money. By the time they are 8 or 9, they should be capable of filling out a deposit slip. Let them fill it out and bring the money/slip up to the teller. Stand behind them for moral support and let them have the experience.</p>
<p>There is pride to be had by saving up your money, filling out the deposit slip, and personally going to the bank. I can’t be the only one who remembers doing this as a young child? Sometimes it was $5.00, sometimes a little more, but I remember feeling so grown up as a child when I did my own banking. I loved watching the savings book get stamped with the new transaction and watching the balance grow.</p>
<p>In lieu of my kids having their own accounts, they keep a spreadsheet of their allowance and any money they have coming in and keep track of what they spend. They can do this if they have an account too, I think it has made them more frugal seeing where the money goes.</p>