You have a check that is made out to you ("Pay to the order of [you])", and you want to use it to pay someone else - without cashing or depositing the money in your bank account.

You can do that?

Yep. I didn't know this until someone hit my car and I received a check from their auto insurance company with instructions to sign it over to my repair shop.

How?

Normally, when you're depositing a check at your bank, you flip the check over, sign it, and give it to the teller who credits your account or gives you cash.

Instead, if you want to pay someone else with the check (called "signing over a check", or "endorsing over a check") you flip it over and write:

Pay to the order of:
[XYZ person/company]
[your signature]

and give it the party you're paying. When they cash it they'll sign their name underneath and give it to their bank.

This is called a "special endorsement" in bank lingo, and the person you're paying is called the "endorsee".

Caution

It's possible that the person you're paying will have trouble cashing a check signed over to them in this manner, depending on their bank's policies and their longstanding relationship with the bank, so it can be a good idea to check with them (and their bank) before trying this.

Written February 14, 2006
Revised July 26, 2010

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