When endorsing a joint refund check from the US Treasury, is having one of the payees endorsement and a credit account within named payee stamp sufficient for endorsement? Here is the concern. If the joint payees are separated/divorcing, and the check is mailed to only one of the payees (say the wife), can she endorse it, have the bank stamp it "endorsement guaranteed" and deposit it to a joint account with both names? Would the husband have recourse claiming he had no knowledge that the check had been received and deposited and therefore didn't know the funds were available before the wife withdrew all the cash? Could he claim "forged" or "unauthorized" endorsement because his actual signature was not on the check?

If the check is joint, both must endorse it. Especially a tax refund check. We wouldn't touch it unless it was.