Can an administrator/executor cash a check?
Answer by Richard Insley and Ken Golliher, BOL Guru Guru Bio
Question: Should we allow an administrator or executor of an estate to cash a check made payable to the estate?
Answer by Richard Insley:
Probably not, but your best bet is to run this question by the bank's attorney.
Answer by Ken Golliher:
Do as Richard suggests, check with your attorney, but my unequivocal answer would be, "No."
Theoretically, a personal representative could cash a check payable to the decedent. However, one of the primary purposes of estate administration is to allow a judge to review the actions of the personal representative for propriety and consistency with the decedent's instructions. If you allow the personal representative to cash a check, that oversight goes out the window and the bank has facilitated any breach of fiduciary duty that may have occurred.
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