To sign a check over to someone else, flip the check over, write “Pay to the order of” followed by the recipient’s full legal name in the endorsement area, and sign your name directly below. That instruction, called a special endorsement under the Uniform Commercial Code, transfers your right to the funds to the person you named.1Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 3-205 – Special Indorsement, Blank Indorsement, Anomalous Indorsement The catch: a bank is never required to accept a third-party check, and many refuse them outright, so the recipient should confirm their bank’s policy before you put ink on the paper.2Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 3-201 – Negotiation
Call the Recipient’s Bank First
Before you endorse anything, have the recipient call their bank and ask two questions: does the bank accept third-party checks at all, and what will they need to bring? Skip this step and you risk a wasted trip and a rejected check. Many institutions treat third-party checks as high-risk and decline them as a matter of policy, because the bank absorbs the loss if the check bounces or an endorsement turns out to be forged.
How to Endorse the Check
Once the recipient’s bank has confirmed it will accept the check, work inside the endorsement area on the back. That strip is usually about an inch and a half deep and marked with lines or the words “Endorse here.” Keep all your writing inside it; marks outside can obscure the routing and account numbers the bank needs to process the check.
- Print “Pay to the order of” and then the recipient’s full legal name, spelled exactly as it appears on their government-issued ID. A nickname or misspelling can get the check rejected.
- Sign your name directly below that line, matching the name written on the “Pay to” line on the front of the check.
- Use blue or black ink. Other colors, or pencil, can be flagged as a possible alteration.
- Do not sign until you are ready to hand the check to the recipient or are at the bank with them. A signature by itself, with no “Pay to the order of” line above it, is a blank endorsement, which lets anyone holding the check cash it.1Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 3-205 – Special Indorsement, Blank Indorsement, Anomalous Indorsement
The recipient finishes the process by signing their own name beneath yours when they present the check at their bank.
What Happens at the Recipient’s Bank
The teller will ask the recipient for government-issued ID, such as a driver’s license or passport, to confirm the name on the ID matches the name you wrote on the back. Some banks also require you, the original payee, to appear in person at the branch to verify your endorsement.
Expect a hold on the money. Third-party checks routinely trigger extended holds because the bank views them as higher risk than a routine deposit, and only a small portion of the deposit is guaranteed to be available the next business day under federal funds-availability rules.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks (Regulation CC) Threshold Adjustments The recipient should not assume the money is spendable the day they deposit it.
Checks You Cannot Sign Over
Some checks either can’t be transferred at all or come with restrictions that make a third-party endorsement pointless.
U.S. Treasury Checks
Federal government checks, including tax refunds and benefit payments, must be endorsed by the named payee or by someone with formal legal authority to act for them, such as a power of attorney or guardianship.4eCFR. 31 CFR Part 240 – Indorsement and Payment of Checks Drawn on the United States Treasury Casually signing a Treasury check over to a friend or family member does not meet that standard, and most banks will reject it.
Checks Already Marked “For Deposit Only”
If you’ve already written “For Deposit Only” above your signature, you’ve created a restrictive endorsement that limits the check to deposit into your own account.5Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Does It Mean for a Check to Be Indorsed for Deposit Only You can’t undo that to convert it into a third-party endorsement. Hold off on endorsing any check until you’ve decided what to do with it.
Checks Made Out to Two People
If the check is written to two payees joined by “and,” both people must endorse it, and neither can sign it over to a third party alone. If the names are joined by “or,” either payee can endorse and transfer the check independently.
Older Checks
A bank has no obligation to honor a check presented more than six months after its date.6Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 4-404 – Bank Not Obliged to Pay Check More Than Six Months Old Signing a check over adds days to the process, and a check already several months old can age past that window before it clears. Deposit it yourself and pay the person another way.
Mobile Deposit Almost Never Works
Most banks will not accept a signed-over check through their mobile app. The automated system checks that the payee name on the check matches the name on the account being deposited into, and a third-party endorsement fails that match. Banks that will take a signed-over check at a teller window typically still exclude them from mobile and ATM deposits. If the recipient can’t get to a branch, it’s usually faster to deposit the check into your own account and send them the money by bank transfer, a peer-to-peer payment app, or a new check written directly to them.
If the Check Bounces, You May Owe the Money
When a signed-over check comes back unpaid, the recipient’s bank reverses the credit and may charge a returned-check fee.7HelpWithMyBank.gov. A Check I Deposited Bounced – Am I Liable for the Entire Amount The recipient loses access to the funds immediately.
Your liability doesn’t end when you hand off the check. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, an endorser is generally obligated to pay the amount of a dishonored check to the person who took it from them.8Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 3-415 – Obligation of Indorser In practice, the recipient can come back to you for the money, even though someone else wrote the original check. You’d then be the one chasing the original check writer for reimbursement.
If there’s any doubt about whether the check will clear, the safer route is to deposit it into your own account, wait for it to clear, and then send the money on by a separate method.