Bearer check endorsement

On Jul 27, 6:54 am, Stuart Bronstein <spamt...@lexregia.com> wrote:
> Stan <stanle...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > Does a check payable to "Bearer" even require an endorsement, and
> > what if I gave it to one of my adult kids, who doesn't live with
> > me, to cash as Bearer.
>
> Yes, it will generally require an endorsement, because the person you
> are giving it to will generally need assurances that the check is
> good and that you will pay the money back if it isn't.

Your reply raises several excellent points, Stu, but this one puzzles me.   Perhaps the adult kid could "ask" Dad to endorse the "bearer" check he is being given as a gift, but IMO that is unlikely to happen, and if it does, wouldn't Dad just say, "Heck with that, I'll give it to your sister instead?"  If Dad's name doesn't appear anywhere on the check as maker or payee then IMO he has no _legal_ obligation to endorse the bearer check he passes on, gratis, to a family member.  Even if theoretically he had such an obligation, there is the evidentiary problem of proving that Dad ever had his mitts on the bearer check in the first place.  And if that duty is applied, why wouldn't it also apply to every one of the myriad individuals who handled the check at some point in its transmission to the person who actually tried to negotiate it for value?   Wouldn't they all be "bearers" too?   I think not.

Perhaps the check came in a letter addressed to "Current Occupant" so Son could be that person as much as Dad even if Dad is the one who opened the mail.  Of course, without Dad's endorsement, there is no guarantee by Dad that the check is good.   Why would Dad want to make such a guarantee by endorsing a check payable to order of bearer, when Dad gets no value in return except the goodwill of his kid?

OTOH the party who actually gives some value for the check, frex the bank where Son then takes the check to cash or deposit it, is going to want an endorsement from Son, as "bearer" since Son is then the one who is negotiating the check.

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