I've found an old counter cheque payable to my late father - what can I do?

[SW18]

I found an old Abbey counter cheque for over �10k made payable to my late father. It was dated over 10 years ago and he died about 3 years ago. Any suggestions on what to do with it?

[CheekyChops]

Take it back to Abbey along with a copy of your fathers death cert and see what they say.

[Whickerman]

Only - don't depend on it, cheques usually need to be cashed within a time period - I believe it's 6 months

[dzug]

It's possible that your father had already reported it missing and had it replaced.

Strictly, the executors of you father's estate should approach Abbey - the money, if it exists and Abbey play ball, is due to them and then they distribute it according to the will/intestacy rules. For that sort of sum Abbey will probably insist on this even if he didn't leave much else.

You may need to make an appointment to see a manager or advisor - my experience of Abbey counter clerks is they are useless for anything non-routine and my well give you duff gen.

[Buenchico]

Further to CheekyChops post:
Taking the cheque to Abbey is clearly the only sensible course of action (but don't expect an immediate response because their counter staff almost certainly have a clue what to do about your enquiry).

However, your father's death certificate would probably not be sufficient documentation. You'll need an official copy of the grant of probate (if your father left a will) or of letters of administration (if he died intestate).

Further to Whickerman's post:
While a normal cheque might have a limited validity (even though I've managed to pay cheques several years old into my own account), the same might not be true of a 'counter cheque', which is actually a banker's draft, rather than a true cheque.

If it had been a normal cheque (drawn on a business or personal account) the drawer would get a big shock if Abbey suddenly took funds from their account after all this time. However the money came out of that person's (or business's) account over 10 years ago, and has been sitting in Abbey's suspense account ever since. They've no legal right to retain the funds, so it should be possible to pay the counter cheque to your father's estate.

Chris

[Uzoma]

By the way, if you haven't already done this, make a copy of the cheque (front and back) before you leave it in the bank.

[lazy daisy]

If and when they do pay it back, make sure you get any interest due.

[Peashelll]

What ever happened with this? My dad also recently found a counter cheque from abbey but for £670 dated July 2000. Legally can he still cash the cheque?