Any one have trouble depositing wedding checks written to "Mr & Mrs. newname'

I've never thought about that. I can't change my name until 4 months after the wedding because our honeymoon is booked in our current names and our tickets and passport need to match!

Sorry I'm not help but curious to see if anyone else has solutions.

Hmm that's odd. FH and I got a check made out the same way and I was able to deposit it into our bank account no problem. He's even deposited a check made out to me to my own personal account. Is HE able to deposit it? Or are you saying no in general because of the name?

I didn't have that problem after my first wedding because I have an account at my employers credit union so the tellers know me personally. It's convenient for a lot of reasons :-)

ToBeMrsM ... I think it is pretty standard for guests to send checks to people as Mr. & Mrs with the grooms last name. This issues is with the bank that won't accept the checks since my last name is not legally the same as my grooms. My groom is on the bank account, but they need both people on the check to sign in order to deposit the check.

Shannon, we are in a similar boat although not 4 months. If I change my name, 'd have to wait at least a month before changing it (due to traveling) and then wait until we receive the drivers license in the mail. It seems such a hassle. I just know that it really messes up ppls accounting when they write checks that aren't deposited right away. I don't want to cause difficulty for our guests (nor do I want to lose the checks as we move after the wedding!)

I used to work at a bank and yes, if the cheque is made out to Mr & Mrs Hislastname, then the cheque is only cashable (or depositable) once you are married and have Hislastname....

For example if the cheque was made out to 2 people (not in a marriage situation) Jane Doe AND Santa Claus.... the bank would need BOTH people that the cheque is written to in order to cash it...

I had a fairly large cheque arrive before my wedding from an uncle that wasn't able to attend the wedding and he made it out to Mr AND Mrs Hislastname and I had to wait until after the wedding to cash it....

If you are not changing your name, you may have to have the cheque re-written in one persons name....OR if you have a good relationship with your bank, they MAY make an exception for you....

Sorry...

We had a few checks made out that way.... i took our marriage license with me to the bank, and just explained we were newlyweds, and that i hadnt changed my name... they just had me endorse and deposit it. i probably could have done it without the license to be honest, but i wasnt sure.

We can't deposit it into our account at all. He still has a separate account (he was going to close it but we were waiting for somethings to go through - which may turn out to be fortunate), so he is going to see if he can deposit them into that account. However, we aren't near any of the branches for that bank either (we move too much!) so it will still need to be through mobile deposit. I'm not sure if it will work, but I was curious if others had these issues.

I have gotten a check already, but thankfully it was made out to me only. With my current name. I hope I don't have to worry about it.

We didn't have problems, but we deposited all our checks at our credit union. They took them without issue.

I believe one of my co-workers changed her name quickly for this reason, though, so it can vary by bank. For ladies with more time, it may be worth it to spread the word that checks should be made in one name only.

I believe I've heard of some guests swapping out the check, though. Is that a possibility?

Reenski, spreading the word is a good idea. I'll mention it to my grandma - word travels fast from her ;-) The checks we already received are from people who live out of state (well all our guests live out of state) and won't be attending the wedding. I don't want to put the burden on them. Hopefully we can deposit them to a different bank - if this doesn't work then we may need to consider contacting people. I just hope the other bank works. Base on what others have written, it seems like their are mixed experiences so we'll just have to wait and see.

I am a little surprised that this is an issue at all. I mean, people get married all the time - seems like banks should be prepared for this.

Whenever writing a check as a gift, I always made it out to one person knowing this issue. If you're bank doesn't cooperate, they will after the wedding. But hey, who wouldn't love a little spending cash on the honeymoon?

As a side note, your FH should be able to deposit without an issue. Just sign your "new" last name under his. If they gave him a hard time, it would just be weird.

We opened a shared account after the wedding but before I completed name change paperwork. Our bank (went to local branch) had no problem accepting any of the checks, no matter how they were written (one even said Mr. Hoffman, my old last name, as a joke.) I did have the marriage license with me, too.

If you were close to a branch, I would suggest going in after the wedding with the license to prove the marriage/lack of name change. I think perhaps some people are able to do it that way, too?

I agree with not wanting to put the burden on the gifter, but if the bank gives you that much hassle, I would think they'd rather you actually be able to deposit the check. Not to mention, they'd likely notice it not clearing their bank, which is an issue for them, ya know?

Best of luck with it! Makes me glad I added a second last name instead of changing, anything written to either last name will work.

And as a random funny note, I once got a check from my college organization written to my email address name (a first & last name that was an old nickname) rather than my actual name. Like, nowhere CLOSE to me being able to cash it.

What is a good way to word only to write a check in one name on the wedding website without sounding like they have to give you cash? Or should it just be by word of mouth?

So, could you cross out "&Mrs."? Or, just deposit it in an account with only his name on it? Or open a "wedding account"?

I am wondering if people are going to do this to us now... great.

Laudie, I think it probably is better to stick with word of mouth.

Rev. Ann Fuller, our joint account is with Ally bank - they don't even have physical branches and will not take the checks. My FH has an account with PNC, but we don't live anywhere near a physical branch. He was also planning to close the PNC account as he's already switched our direct deposits and everything to the Ally account. We are going to wait to see if he can deposit the joint checks there before we close it at this point. I'm actually not too hopeful though. We were planning on opening our joint account with PNC (even thought there are no local branches) but I had problems with them when trying to open an account (I guess moving often makes you look suspicious to a bank - and I move way too much!)

Can you jsut deposit it through the ATM? I doubt there'd be an issue with it not accepting it or it having to be reviewed. The only thing that may happen is it gets returned. That's how i do all of my deposits at least.

You shoudl call the main cusotmer service number and ask general questions so you can get a better idea of how to get around it. Ask about depositing it into the separate account. It may be that it can be done but both of you still have to sign it. Or not at all. The problem with the marriage license is your supposed to write in what your name will be i believe so if its not going to change they still may not accept it.

Amy, we tried the mobile deposit - that is what made us realize the problem. It is actually a little ironic, because we decided to open the joint account before the wedding to make everything easier. I hadn't thought about how people write checks for weddings.

Bee j., I'm not sure about the rules, but I'm guessing that altering the 'pay to the order of' section may be considered fraud or forgery - I'm not sure, but I don't want to get in trouble. Usually the person writing the check needs to initial any changes/corrections and since I'm not the person writing the check, I don't think I can make the change.

Thanks. Since I've already spoken to Ally and they've told me that they will not be able to accept the checks unless I change my name, I think we are going to go the route of trying to see if we can deposit them to a different bank. Not sure.

The checks are intended as wedding gifts and since our wedding is only a week away (yay), it isn't that pre-mature. I guess people just don't think about this when writing checks for weddings (I never had) and banks aren't used to women not changing their names.

I signed my maiden name and the newlast name right under it. I haf no problems.