To fill out a check, complete six fields in permanent ink, working top to bottom: the date in the upper right, the payee’s full legal name on the “Pay to the Order of” line, the amount in numbers inside the box to the right, the same amount spelled out in words on the line below the payee, an optional note on the memo line, and your signature on the bottom right. Get those six right and the check is valid; leave any of them blank or ambiguous and the bank may reject it, or worse, someone may alter it.
The Six Fields, In Order
Date. Write the current month, day, and year in the upper right corner. Today’s date makes the check payable immediately.
Payee. On the “Pay to the Order Of” line, write the full legal name of the person or business you’re paying. For a company, use its official name, not a nickname or abbreviation. A misspelled name can hold up the deposit on the other end.
Numeric amount. In the small box to the right of the payee line, write the dollar amount in figures. Start as far left as you can inside the box so no one can squeeze extra digits in front of your number.
Written amount. On the long line below the payee, spell out the same amount in words, with cents as a fraction over 100. A check for $150.75 reads “One hundred fifty and 75/100.” Draw a horizontal line through any leftover space to the printed word “Dollars” so nothing can be inserted after your figure. If the numeric and written amounts disagree, the written amount is what controls under the Uniform Commercial Code.1Cornell Law Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 3-114 – Contradictory Terms of Instrument
Memo. The line in the bottom left is optional. Use it to note what the payment is for, such as an invoice number, an account reference, or a short description. The memo doesn’t change the legal terms of the check, but it helps both you and the payee match the payment to the right obligation later.
Signature. Sign the line on the bottom right using the signature your bank has on file. Without a valid signature, the check can’t be enforced against you and the bank won’t release the funds.2Cornell Law Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 3-401 – Signature Sign last, after you’ve checked everything else.
Use permanent ink for every field. Pencil and erasable pens leave the check open to easy alteration.
Small Habits That Prevent Check Fraud
How you write matters as much as what you write. Check washing, one of the most common forms of check fraud, involves a thief stealing a check from a mailbox, using chemicals to lift the ink, and rewriting it for a different amount or payee. A gel ink pen resists this because gel ink soaks into the paper fibers instead of resting on the surface the way standard ballpoint ink does.
Fill every field completely and eliminate blank space. Draw a line through any unused portion of the payee line and any tail of the written-amount line. Never sign a blank check and never leave a check partially written for later. Altering a check to defraud a bank is a federal crime carrying fines up to $1,000,000 and up to 30 years in prison,3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 1344 – Bank Fraud but the criminal penalty doesn’t undo the loss, so the goal is to make alteration hard in the first place.
When you hand the check off, direct delivery to the recipient is safest. If you mail it, use a security-tinted envelope so the check can’t be read through the paper. For high-value checks, certified mail gives you a tracking number and proof of delivery.
Voiding a Check You Wrote Wrong
If you make a mistake on a check, don’t just throw it away and don’t try to correct it with scratch-outs. Write “VOID” in large capital letters across the front, in blue or black ink, big enough to cover most of the check face while leaving the routing and account numbers along the bottom edge readable. Don’t sign a check you’re voiding. Record the check number and date as voided in your register so every check on the pad is accounted for. The same procedure works when an employer or biller asks for a blank voided check to set up direct deposit.
Record the Check Immediately
As soon as a check leaves your hand, write it down in your check register or a tracking app: check number, date, payee, and amount. This is how you catch discrepancies against your bank statement and, more urgently, how you avoid overdrawing your account. Overdraft fees vary by bank; some have eliminated them, while others charge as much as $36 per transaction.4FDIC.gov. Overdraft and Account Fees
If a seller needs guaranteed funds — real estate down payments, some vehicle purchases, or payments to someone who doesn’t know you — a personal check won’t do the job. A cashier’s check, drawn on the bank’s own funds and paid for from your account when the bank issues it, is what those transactions call for.
If You Need to Cancel a Check After Sending It
Once a check is out of your hands and you realize it shouldn’t be paid — it was lost, stolen, or written in error — call your bank and request a stop payment order. Give the check number, date, payee, and amount so the bank can identify it before it’s presented.
An oral stop payment expires after 14 calendar days unless you follow up in writing within that window. A written stop payment lasts six months and can be renewed for additional six-month periods.5Cornell Law Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 4-403 – Customer’s Right to Stop Payment Banks usually charge a fee, often somewhere between $15 and $36 depending on the institution and whether you place the order online or in person.
Post-Dating and Stale Checks
Two dating questions come up often, and the answers aren’t intuitive.
Writing a future date on a check does not, by itself, stop your bank from paying it if the payee deposits it early. To make post-dating work, you have to separately notify your bank in writing, describing the check by number, amount, and date, with enough lead time for the bank to flag it. Without that notice, the bank can pay the check as soon as it’s presented.6Cornell Law Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 4-401 – When Bank May Charge Customer’s Account
At the other end, a bank isn’t required to honor a check presented more than six months after its written date.7Cornell Law Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 4-404 – Bank Not Obliged to Pay Check More Than Six Months Old But it can still choose to pay a stale check in good faith, so don’t assume an old check is dead. If you wrote a check that hasn’t cleared and is nearing six months, reach out to the payee and arrange a replacement rather than waiting to see what the bank does.