If I got a check made out to ‘Silver Tyger’ and my bank account was under ‘Silver Tyger Girl’ would the bank still cash it? How about if it was made out to ‘Silvan Tyger’?
At the moment completely hypothetical (I can provide details if anybody cares)
This happens to businesses all the time with customers getting the names wrong. Banks always take them. Why don’t you call your bank to doublecheck?
It really shouldn’t be a problem, especially with how close the names are. As needscoffee said it happens to business all the time. At my store (let’s call it Vilet Ave Fruit Store), we get checks all the time for Vilet Fruit, Vilet Store, Vilet Ave Fruit etc etc etc, but the best is when they write the checks to “The Fruit Ranch” which is the name of a different store that people tend to mix up with us. Never had a problem. Just like Office Max and Office Depot probably get checks written out to the other one all the time.
ETA I just realized that even though Vilet Ave Fruit Store is a totally made up name The Fruit Ranch is a real store, it’s the one that people get mixed up with us.
If you just opened the account, you might get some scrutiny, but if you’ve been a long-standing customer without problems, they won’t blink an eye.
I remember reading something about a bitter ex-husband writing alimony checks made out to his ex-wife’s first name only, and the ex-wife was having a horrible time getting her bank to accept them, and the implication was that he was doing this maliciously thinking that in theory, he did nothing legally punishible since the check was, in theory, legally a check payable to his ex-wife
That’s strange. There’s really no reason why she couldn’t have just filled in her last name.
My grandmother seems incapable of remembering my married name, so the checks that are written to Jane Smith go into the account for Jane Doe. Never had a problem. I generally endorse them as Jane Smith Doe, just in case.
(Chase Bank, in case it matters.)
Former bank teller here for B of A…
For an established customer, it was never a problem. Just sign it on the back as the name appears on the face of the check then sign it again, the normal way, just below that.
I used to write checks to my housemate with the name ‘Snott’ or ‘Scotty the Body’ and the bank never seemed to notice. Not even the ‘sexual favors’ or ‘Porn’ on the note line.
My BIL had a habit of writing “SWEATY SHITBALLS” in the memo.
Thanks everybody.
I’m thinking of officially changing my name and of possible complications. Whether I’ll get around to it or not, who knows? (My parents aren’t real keen on the idea, mostly because I’m planning on also changing my last name because, really, I don’t like it.)
In my experience, deposits (where they bank is accepting your money) is nearly painless. On the other hand, if you are getting money from the bank, they will check more and more often.
My wife’s a lawyer. Long before we got married she legally changed her last name because she didn’t much like her birth last name. As she says, “Best $200 I ever spent.”
Get the proper affidavit drawn up. Your county clerk or secretary of state can get you the details; they may even have a standard form to fill out. Then get it blessed by the local judge. Viola! You’re now the new and improved Gold Tyger Babe
Then get a new driver’s license. Then go to all your banks & CC’s with the new info, as well as employers, insurers, etc. IRS & SSA also want to be told. It’s a month or two of minor admin hassle, but then it’s done.
No harder or different really than the process many women go through when they adopt their husband’s last name after a marriage.
What I/we suggest you avoid is trying to change your name informally by just starting to fill out forms with the new name. While that sounds like the easy way out, it’s really a recipe for chaos & credit rating issues later which are far harder to untangle than they are to avoid in the first place. Do it right.
One other thought: Jurisdictions and courts and businesses wouldn’t have established forms & procedures for doing name changes if there wasn’t a steady stream of people wanting to do that. So your desire for a change is far from unusual. If it makes you happier, do it.
I have cashed checks made out to multiple permutations of my name, my businesses name, and even a competitors business name (customer screw up). My bank (so far) has cashed whatever I present.
My landlord is Polish and has a really long and hard last name to spell. One time I was in a real rush and was flying out the door and I remembered to pay my rent.
So I just dashed off his first name Zachariah, legibly, then scribbled in his last name with just some dashes and a few letters I recall. They bank cashed it and the last name was just dashes and scribbles
I wasn’t thinking of doing that at all. One of the reasons I’m thinking of officially changing my names is I’m getting tired of being having to say (with names changed) ‘Yeah, my resume/the roll/whatever says Silvan, but I go by Silver.’ As well as constantly being called ‘Sylvia’ (not really, but you get the idea)
Right. I’ve actually done a deposit for my sister before. There’s not a lot of identity theft involving giving people money.
Sure there is. It happened all the time when I was a bank FSR (Financial Sales Representative).
Say I want to raid my brother’s account. I know what bank she has a deposit at, but not her account number. I go to the teller window, identify myself as him, and say I want to depoosit a $100, but don’t have my account number on me. I know his birthdate and give that, and the teller is careless and allows the deposit. The account number is on the receipt. I am now a step closer to moving all the money from his account into my pocket.
When I worked in retail banking, tellers were specifically prohibited from giving receipts to customers who did not have ID or provide the account number themselves. If the customer was known to someone on desk side, they could come get one of us to authorize it; the FSR would then have to sign the authorization, so that he or she would be on the hook for authorizing the withdrawal if fraud were involved.
Skald’s example is interesting to me. Consider a man bringing his brother’s ID & pretending to be him. Members of my extended family are mistaken for each other by non-relatives pretty often. There’s a lot of partial faceblindness in white America.
Many persons of one “race” have difficulty distinguishing between thefaces of persons of different backgrounds. This is true among blacks as well as whites, American Indians as well as Asian Indians, etc.
It happens within color groups as well. Sometimes someone keys on the family resemblance, not the differences. And if you’re not expecting a fraud, you may fall for it.