A relative of mine recently found a 12 year old paycheck that was never cashed. The organization still exists that wrote the check. the person has already checked their state’s missing money fund, and nothing is listed there (apparently sometimes uncashed funds are turned in to a state to hold) .
Does anyone here know much about this, and whether the original company would be obligated to re-issue the check? Or should the person just write it off to boneheadedness and move on?
I believe that the former company would have been obligated to re-\issue the check to the employee after a certain amount of time. Ask the relative if there is any chance the company had reissued the check, and perhaps they had cashed the new one upon receipt.
I’d write the organization and request them to reissue it. I seriously doubt they’re obligated to do so after this much time, but it would not hurt to ask (heck, they’ve been earning interest on that money for 12 years). You did not indicate whether your relative was considering any other options, but I would NOT to deposit it. It’s doubtful that your relative’s bank would accept it, and it’s highly probable that the payor’s bank would refuse payment (they might even be required to do so by FDIC regulations, for all I know) – in which case your relative would probably be hit with the equivalent of a bounced check penalty on top of everything else.
^Good point. I’ll pass that on. I’m assuming they will contact the company; probably the only way to know for sure. It’s hard to imagine someone would not notice the lack of funds and have the check re-issued at the time, but who knows?
If the company check is drawn on a local bank, they could try cashing it there & see what they are told.
Checks are only good for 180 days or a shorter period if stated on the check.
I believe the company would have long ago balanced their books and taken this money back into the profits and losses of the company. There is nothing the employee can do but ask. It is likely the company would have to do an audit to make sure the check was never reissued, and 12 years is a lot of records to go through if the company even still has them.
I believe that law requires that if it is truly unclaimed (after reissue and attempt to contact employee) it must legally be submitted to the unclaimed property fund. I’m sure that a company that has been in business for 12 years would be following those rules.
Thanks for jogging my memory. My daughter got a check sent to our address a few months back that was from 2010. I took it to her old workplace and they said they’d reissue it. I just realized I hadn’t heard back from them. Jeez, I hope I don’t have to have it issued a third time.
When I took over paying the bills and taxes for my aunt, I found uncashed checks going back close to 10 years. I contacted the institutions, sent copies of the checks to those that requested them and they were all reissued.
Slightly off-topic … or maybe not. When I took over my [very] elderly mother’s financial affairs a few years back [not a conservatorship; just making sure the bills get paid], I switched all of her recurring checks [Social Security, annuities, etc.] to automatic deposit. Some of her bills are paid automatically out of a designated bank account [into which I can transfer funds as needed] and everything else gets charged to a credit card [with the statements emailed to me]. No lost checks; no worries about an envelope somehow got in the stack of recycled newspaper [oh yeah, that happened].
Our D got a notice from CA when she was working part time because she hadn’t deposited ANY of her checks. The had her sign a form and told her they’d reissue this once and after that if she didn’t promptly deposit, she was “donating” to CA. She did finally deposit before CA keep her $$.
Businesses, fiduciaries, banks that hold property of others do have to turn over unclaimed property to the state after a certain number of years of being dormant. Usually these are things like security deposits, bank accounts that have had no activity, security boxes at banks, insurance policy proceeds. These are funds one party is holding for another.
An uncashed check is not in the same category. If a person (or business) writes a check to pay a bill and it is never cashed, the check writer doesn’t have to hunt down the electric company or the department store and give them the money. The person has no obligation to turn the money over to the state under the escheat laws. Same with the employer. Employer is not holding the money for the employee in trust, but it is a bill that is owed.
I’ve had checks that were more than 180 days old and the business would not replace them. Their choice, my loss.