Question for the brides

[Munchkin]

Hello all. This post will probably seem inane to most of you, but I tend to over-think things!

As I was writing out a check and card for an upcoming wedding, a thought occured to me. My friend (the bride) is THRILLED to take his name upon the wedding, so I made a point to write her married name on both the check and card. I wondered, however, if the bank might give her a hard time if she deposits the check and has not legally changed her name. His name is also on the check, so he could obviously endorse it alone, but I am still curious. Did anyone run into a problem with this after their wedding? As a bride, would you prefer to have your married or maiden name on a gift (provided they are different)?

Thanks!
Munchkin

 

[flopkins]

hm... I would still put the maiden name, even though she wants to take her husbands name after the wedding, because it usually takes a few weeks/months to get everything sorted out legally. If the husbands name is on the check though, I don''t think it will be a problem. Maybe you could address the card to Mr. & Mrs. Hislastname instead?

 

[aliciamt7]

The problem we ran into with the checks was that most of the checks were written out to Mr. and Mrs. XXXX, which I loved, but make sure both of their names (including her maiden name) are on the account together as users. We tried to deposit those checks into my husband''s account but we had to add me to his account (which is where we were depositing) and then show them the marriage license to show the marriage. Then we had to both endorse all the checks.

Our bank gave us a big problem with it, but it finally got done. I had to sign whatever name was written on the Pay line (for example, Alicia XXXX or Mrs. XXX, however it was written). To avoid this just make sure both names are on the account right away, and tell her to pick up the marriage license ASAP so she can show she''s the Mrs.

Otherwise, you can write it to one of them (which some of our guests did for some reason) or just give cash (another good idea to avoid most problems with that).

Good luck!

 

[windy1365]

Yea - she still has her old last name until she goes and changes it at the SS office. Then, it takes two weeks to get the new SS card in the mail. She can go get a driver''s license with her new last name as soon as she gets her marriage certificate.

I''m in the process of changing my last name right now. Luckily, I only dropped four letters off of my last name, so most people don''t even notice.

If you write ''Or'' on the check instead of ''And'', he can deposit/cash it without her signature. It may be at least a month before she officially has her new name with identification, so she might have trouble cashing it without some kind of new identification.

 

[qtiekiki]

I work at the bank. She will probably have to bring in her marriage license to show that she is married and using her married name. And definitely make it "or" instead of "and", it makes it easier for either one of them to deposit or cash the check. Make sure you write "or" too because anything without the "or" is considered "and".

 

[Munchkin]

Thank you all! The part about using "or" never occured to me. I''ll pass that along to my friends for future reference.
I think I may void the check and go the cash route. I want to be sure that the money is easily accessible as soon as they need it. They have scrimped and saved to pay for every penny of this wedding themselves, and some guaranteed pocket cash will help.
Thanks again!
Munchkin

 

[windy1365]

Cash is the best!! It is really nice if they are going on their honeymoon right after the wedding - that gives them some extra to spend while on the honeymoon.

 

[Cath]

I never knew about the "or" either -- very good to know! We didn''t have any problems because we already had a joint account before we got married. I definitely preferred check to cash -- it''s "safer" and we got so much cash and checks that we deposited most of the cash anyway instead of taking it with us on the honeymoon.

 

[Layne]

I also work at a bank, we consider anything with out "and" as "or". If your friend was to deposit the checks at our bank where her husband were a customer and she was not she would have to show us valid identification to deposit the checks into his account. If they were both account holders then their signatures could be verified and there would be no problem. (they would have to have his, her maiden, and her married signature). Most banks are willing to work with people in these situations because very few plan ahead and most want to deposit the checks in the day after the wedding and the day before the honeymoon. To someone to an account you need at least 2 forms of id (some banks require more) and to change your name you need the marriage certificate.

 

[MelissaSue]

hmm. I have always written out checks to the couple in both of their names with the new married name on the check. I know my best friend didn''t have any problem even though her name change wasn''t official yet.. because her check cleared within three or four days of the wedding!

 

[windy1365]

Some banks are different just like stores.

There are some banks where the workers don''t pay attention and will deposit or cash checks without even asking for i.d. just like there are some stores that do the same.

At Victoria Secret''s, I''ve noticed that they always ask for id when I use my credit card or check card, and they really do look at it. But...at Express, they don''t even look at the name on the credit card - they just swipe it.

My daddy gave us $1,000 in cash the night before the wedding. I got my aunt to write me a check for some of it, so that I didn''t have to take all of it on the honeymoon. I think it depends on how much cash Munchkin is giving her friend. If it is $300 or under, I don''t see it as a big problem. That is just a little extra spending money - maybe for a nice massage and dinner one night on the honeymoon.

I did not mean that $300 is a little gift though - that would be super nice from a friend!!! I just meant that it isn''t a huge amount to have to worry about some stealing - it could easily be spent in a day at most resorts.

 

[heart prongs]

It was fine when we got married, but my husband went to the bank the next day...He had at least 50 checks with him, so it was obvious we had just gotten married as most of them said Congratulations or something like that on the memo line! Also, we go to a little hometown bank. I was even able to change the name on my checks there w/o the marriage cert. or even a license because the customer service guy knows my dad! I really don''t think the denonimation matters though...We cashed checks of all different denominations that day! klr