Quick Question Regarding Checks and Name Change...

Beyond the person who gets the check from you no human will see it again. I would sign it first name, maiden name, married name. A lot of work but then whoever sees it will connect the dots no matter where you are in the process of changing records. :)

The problem with just your maiden name is say you pay your credit card bill which is already in your married name. They may not know who you were though I would like to think they keep records of that. Thing is most don't even look at that anymore.

I think you can sign either. I'd go with the maiden name since it's what's on the check. I know I had this issue when I got married (almost 7 years ago) and I think they told me either would be fine.

I signed my maiden name unitl the checks were finished.

Megan, I had to laugh. I tried to pay bills online and can't So to the electric co they get a check.
Also I just don't trust all this technology and paying all my bills online yet, so I still do it pencil and paper twice a month.

My son doesn't even have a checkbook, eveythign is done electronically.

Banks dont even look at the signature on checks anymore, so you can sign Mickey Mouse and it wont matter. Nothing happens to a check cept for running it through a computer generated thinger that picks up the number and the amount. It would only be questioned if you complained that a check was improperly cashed..... then the signature would be questioned.

I always hyphenated and never had a problem. I think if you just use your married name, it may cause problems and you run the risk of them not processing your checks and getting late fees on all of your bills. Once I got the checks with my married name on them, I never used up my old checks.

You can sign your checks however you want, but you have to go to the bank and sign a form that shows your signature -- just in case they have to match up your signature on a check to make sure it's real. It doesn't happen much that they do that, but it can. You can sign the checks today and then go to the bank later and ask to change your signature card. That's how it works at my bank anyway.

it really won't matter to be honest - the checks are processed electronically, even by small banks, so you could sign my name there and as long as the money is there - it will clear! :)

i work at the bank myself, and your maiden name checks, sign with your new legal name. So that would be your new married name on the old checks. Good Luck,

You can also write your married name next to your printed maiden name on the check. I wo4rk in a bank and we do allow that. If a check is cashed at a teller, the signature will most likely be verified so you want it to match. If anything, you can put in both so they can compare. If you wrote a check to me and I went to your bank to cash it, they may question it if the signature does not match what is in the system. For businesses, check are now cleared electronically and sometimes they are not checked but there are flags for out of the norm items like if you normally never write a check for over $500 but suddenly there is an item for $8000.

Ive seen people use those address stickers to correct the address that's on their checks. If you go to a small bank I'm sure it will be fine that you are signing your maiden name but if you use a large bank (like bank of america) that has thousands of locations it might be a big deal.
@grandma T your bank might not look at checks but the boy I babysit for dad wrote a check to me but left the name blank because he can never remember how to spell my last name and the bank refused to cash it because the writing didn't match the rest of the check so some look and this was a larger bank not a little town one branch bank.

Either should be fine.

Is there anyway that you can pay the bills online or over the phone and not actually use the checks?

It does not matter what you sign on the line. If your bank has a signature on file it is the one you must use. If someone asks about the signature they can always see your drivers license but really most don't even look at it. Decide what you want to do then just do it. But make sure the bank has that signature on file for verification purposes.

you can go ahead and sign the name that's on the checks...since you will probably forget again...and then sign your new last name at the end.