Another Christmas gift question....what to do about cashing checks....

[JEM]

Yes, why not?

If they're anything like BB&T, they'll charge you $5 for being a "non-customer".

I didn't know if it would be seen as "dishonest", or trying to hide something. I'm being paranoid, I'm sure. I just don't want to do anything "wrong".

[JEM]

Perhaps she could load a prepaid gift card with the $500 and just mail that to you?

Or USPS Money Orders are easy to get and can be cashed at any Post Office, no need to get your bank involved.

With 5 people, I doubt the trustee will have any problem with the $500, but take your attorney's advice if he/she has any.

If you go with a check, have your mother write "Happy Christmas Mary, Billy, Bob, etc." on the memo line -- and keep a photocopy of the check prior to deposit so you can present it if for whatever reason the $500 deposit is questioned.

My mom is old fashioned like that....if she mails money.....always a check.

I was thinking about that this afternoon--about making a photocopy of the check--because she usually DOES write "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Birthday" in the memo line--and obviously the check would be dated around Christmas as well.

[justbroke]

I didn't know if it would be seen as "dishonest", or trying to hide something. I'm being paranoid, I'm sure. I just don't want to do anything "wrong".

Wrong? You're cashing a check that your mother sent as a gift to you and your children.

Wrong, hiding, and dishonest would be having your mother write the check to a third party, have the third party cash it (while keeping a "fee") and then giving your the rest of the cash.

It's normal that people cash checks upon the bank on which it's drawn. Happens all the time.

[JEM]

Wrong? You're cashing a check that your mother sent as a gift to you and your children.

Wrong, hiding, and dishonest would be having your mother write the check to a third party, have the third party cash it (while keeping a "fee") and then giving your the rest of the cash.

It's normal that people cash checks upon the bank on which it's drawn. Happens all the time.

Thanks.


It's all this "extra" stuff about what's income, what's not. Things I never would have DREAMED could be scrutinized, but *could* be.

It's just made me more conscious about keeping good records, that's for sure.

[Flamingo]

I didn't know if it would be seen as "dishonest", or trying to hide something. I'm being paranoid, I'm sure. I just don't want to do anything "wrong".

Pop a beer, pour a glass of wine, have a cup of hot chocolate if you do not imbibe and chill out... Keep a copy of the check, make some notes and cash it. Try to have a good holiday!

[nickifan]

Or USPS Money Orders are easy to get and can be cashed at any Post Office, no need to get your bank involved.

.

I know you can _get_ money orders at the post office, but it never occurred to me to try to CASH them there!! I am going to be getting a gift of $500 a month for the next few months from a friend and I was also worried about this very subject. I cashed the M.O. at my new credit union (as I plan to drop Chase Bank because of plans to list Chase Visa)...but because I was new they are also "holding" $500 of my checking balance until the M.O. clears. (I don't want these MOs deposited per se because I don't want to get into who gave me this money. whether it's a gift or loan,etc. Long story.)

Is there a limit, do you know, on the amount a post office will cash??

[ineedalife]

I just received a check form my parents for $400.00 as a Christmas gift. There are 2 of us, no kids. I plan to cash it at my bank because they don't charge a fee (the check is from another bank). I also cashed a check after I sold a tool owned by myself and a friend for $1600.00 because I gave my friend half and did not want the whole amount to show up on my bank statement. I did deposit the $800.00 and claimed it as income on my paperwork to my lawyer. My Question is, is there a record of me cashing a check and is it traceable or show up on my statement?

[justbroke]

No, generally a check cashed doesn't trace on a statement. A deposited check does.

[Okieblue]

I'm considering the BK thing, again. So far in the past few months, my mom has sent $1K for me to pay for school. She then sent $5K to pay for my sons braces and a little sumpin-sumpin. Then she sent us $1K for xmas. Oh, and she sent $3K to pay off Home Depot. Very confusing.

[nickifan]

No, generally a check cashed doesn't trace on a statement. A deposited check does.

That's what I thought. Unfortunately...I have just discovered that my new credit union did indeed mark a cashed-on-spot Money Order as a deposit, then that it was instantly withdrawn. Maybe this is because I've only had the CU account about a month...and they "held" $500 in my checking account until the money order cleared.

I don't think the MO was from the post office; I think it was from Wells Fargo. But DAMN...this is exactly what I didn't want to happen!! I will be getting $500 a month for the next few months from a friend...it is all a GIFT...but I do NOT want to get into who/what/where/address if a trustee asks about it!!

I may ask my friend about sending cash though that will cause concern...the MO does come by FedEx though, so there is some tracking involved. Or maybe ask that the next MO comes from the post office, and then cash it there?

Is there some "magic" in the $500 number? Should I ask for two $25o (or even $249) checks instead???

Oh the stuff to worry about....

[Meatstick]

Believe it or not my mother just bought our family a 40"HD LCD TV and Blue-Ray DVD player from Best Buy. My mother paid for it at a Best Buy store where she lives and then arranged for us to pick it up at our local Best Buy. How would this gift be viewed by the courts ??


Meatstick

[justbroke]

Believe it or not my mother just bought our family a 40"HD LCD TV and Blue-Ray DVD player from Best Buy. My mother paid for it at a Best Buy store where she lives and then arranged for us to pick it up at our local Best Buy. How would this gift be viewed by the courts ??

Well, now it's tangible. It's personal property, so you'll have to cover it with an exemption.

That's what I thought. Unfortunately...I have just discovered that my new credit union did indeed mark a cashed-on-spot Money Order as a deposit, then that it was instantly withdrawn.

That's why I wrote "generally a check cashed doesn't trace on a statement". Your specific Credit Union must have a policy that instructs their tellers that all foreign checks presented, must be deposited. Most "sophisticated" national banks don't do this at all! I have cashed checks for $3-4K and presented them as "cash" to Bank of America. Not only did they not freeze any of my money market account... the checks never showed up as being "deposited".

Actually, a teller I used -- at an "in-store" branch -- had never seen the system authorize a $3K foreign (non-government) check before as "cash". I actually went in to ask if this foreign drawn check would have a hold on it if I deposited it. She stated that the system looks at the check, the account holder, the amount, and various factors to determine when the check will clear. The check's routing number clearly indicated it was a bank in a different region for the Federal Reserve's ACH. She then told me that this check would clear instantly. Nice! So I cashed it instead of depositing it, so was able to toss the deposit slip! Of course, it helped that I had $$$$$ in my money market account. Of course, today they hate me.

Of course, the amount of time your bank will hold your deposits, is bank specific. There are many factors that go with their decision on how long to hold things for. I remember when I first opened my Bank of America account and put $25K in it. This was because I was closing on a new home in Florida, and needed a "local" bank check for the closing (this was a title company rule... I guess so they could validate it easily). When I deposited the money, Bank of America told me 21 days before they'd allow the check to clear, because it was a new account! Wow, $25K held up for 21 days, but I didn't car. Everything worked out in the end!

[nickifan]

That's why I wrote "generally a check cashed doesn't trace on a statement". Your specific Credit Union must have a policy that instructs their tellers that all foreign checks presented, must be deposited. Most "sophisticated" national banks don't do this at all! I have cashed checks for $3-4K and presented them as "cash" to Bank of America. Not only did they not freeze any of my money market account... the checks never showed up as being "deposited". !

Yeah, I know there is a "your mileage may vary" element here. I'm just so disappointed that it "showed up." Alas, since I am going to list not one but two Bank of America CCs when I file, I can't go open a checking account with their bank just so these money orders can get cashed!

I've already emptied my Chase checking account (I think they've already closed it, it has a zero balance because I didn't have enough in it to cover the monthly $20 fee) because a Chase Visa will be listed as well.... They've left the dollar and change that was in the savings account though...

[JustFileSuit]

Believe it or not my mother just bought our family a 40"HD LCD TV and Blue-Ray DVD player from Best Buy. My mother paid for it at a Best Buy store where she lives and then arranged for us to pick it up at our local Best Buy. How would this gift be viewed by the courts ??


Meatstick

Have your Mom (or you, on her behalf) file a UCC-1 Form on the items and then they remain her property, not yours, and are in your home only on loan from her. Alternatively or additionally, sign a Promissory Note for the value of the goods, plus 10% interest, with the goods as security, and record that on a UCC-1` Form, and nobody can touch the goods until the Note is paid. If you file bankruptcy, your Plan simply includes surrender of the goods back to the Holder (mom). She just leaves it at your place. You use it, she owns it. Remember: you haven't paid for it.

[JustFileSuit]

Is there a limit, do you know, on the amount a post office will cash??

Nope, no limit. The individual Money Order has a face value limit, I think today it is at $1,000 (used to be $700). You can buy them for 75 cents and you can cash them at any Post Office in the USA for free. You just present your ID, of course. You can even buy your own and carry it around and then cash it later to yourself - you will have made an interest-free loan to the Postal authorities, but hey, you got to carry around their M.O. !

Your $500 is not going to attract a lot of attention. BUT the attorneys are incorrect: a cash receipt to you is "income." In the USBC, a buck is a buck is a buck, and nobody much cares where it came from. If you get a windfall like a lottery ticket that pays out, then you can be sure the Trustee is going to be treating that as income, to repay your creditors!

You can avoid these problems of grandma and the kids by setting up a trust Account with yourself as the Trustee. the check gets made out to the name of the trust Account. You cash it there. It is not part of the bankruptcy estate; it is funds in trust for others not before the courts (the kinds are not before the Courts). And the "Rules" are not district-specific; it is more a function of the discretionary attitude of the Trustee than anything else.