How Long Can It Take For a Check I Write to Clear on My Account?
"There's nothing you can do. If he has indeed deposited the check, it would appear on your account fairly quickly - I've never seen it taking more than 2-3 business days. However, a check is a debt instrument, and you cannot close the account until it clears, or until the ""unclaimed property"" laws of your state kick in. If he claims that he deposited the check, ask it in writing and have your bank (or the bank where it was deposited) investigate why it takes so long to clear. If he's not willing to give it to you in writing - he's likely not deposited it. Whatever the reason may be, even just to cause you nuisance. Lesson learned. Next time - cashier's check with a signed receipt. Re closing the LLC: if you're the only two partners - you can just withdraw yourself from the LLC, take out your share, and drop it on him leaving him the only partner. Check with your local attorney for details." According to this Q&A by a Houston law professor: The law, however, is not designed to interfere with an individual's right to stop payment on a valid check because of a dispute with someone. If he didn't deliver as promised, you do not owe the money and have the right to stop payment. Assuming that you had enough money in the bank to cover the check, stopping payment is not a crime. I found several other pages essentially saying the same thing.  All the usual disclaimers apply, I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, etc.  In particular, laws might vary by state. Basically, though, it doesn't seem there's any reason why you can't stop payment on the check just because you feel like it.  If you then provide a cashier's check for the payment, your ex-partner will not really have anything to complain about.  If you're worried about annoying him by doing this, that's a separate issue, but given the situation you describe, I don't see why you should be.  If you feel he is being a pain in the neck, feel free to be a pain in the neck right back and force him to accept the payment in the manner you decide, instead of allowing him to string you along. Note two things: obviously if you have reason to believe the guy will sue you, you should act with caution.  Also, I'm not suggesting withdrawing payment completely, only stopping the check and issuing a new payment that you don't have to wait on (e.g., cashier's check).
Is there a point after which they legally unable to charge me? No. If you gave a check, then the bank may bounce it as stale after 6 months, but doesn't have to. With debit/credit transactions, they post as they're processed, and some merchants may not sync their terminals or deposit their manual slips often. As the world becomes more and more connected this becomes extremely rare, but still happens. Technically your promise to pay is a contract which never expires, and they can come after you years later to collect. "If you want an ""account statement"" from the IRS listing the taxes due and paid and confirming a zero balance remaining, you want what they call a Tax Account Transcript. It sounds like you tried to submit this online, but yes, it would require the actual taxpayer to submit it. The other option would be to fill out Form 4506-T requesting the Form 1040 Tax Account Transcript, have the taxpayer sign it, and mail it in. Presumably whatever method you used to have her sign the Form 1040 you prepared for her you could also use to have her sign the 4506-T. Another option could be to try to request the transcript over the phone. I don't know what authentication they require, or if you would need to have been listed on the 1040 as an authorized Third Party Designee. According to the IRS Transcript FAQ Page: Q19. What if I’m unable to use Get Transcript by Mail? If you are unable to use Get Transcript by Mail, you may try our automated phone transcript service at 800-908-9946 and also receive your transcript by mail. Please allow 5 to 10 calendar days for delivery. But unless there's a reason to think that the tax account wasn't credited properly or the IRS is sending another bill or the like, I don't think there's a lot of point in doing so. In general, the fact that the check cleared the bank should be sufficient documentation that the amount was paid." "When I deposit my paycheck in CapOne I have an email before I am out of the app that they received my check. I have access to some portion of the cash now and the rest the next business day, however they put things in order to NOT overdraft me. For instance, if I am overdrawn $150 but the charge is ""pending"", putting the check in they will deposit the check before posting the charge that would overdraft me.  Plus I can use Apple Pay with it.  My local CUs have app deposit, but it takes DAYS for a deposit to just show up. Plus, no Apple Pay." "We have a local bank that changed to a bill pay service.  The money is held as ""processing"" when the check is supposed to be cut and shows as cleared on the date the check is supposed to be received.  Because our business checking is with the same bank, we discovered recently that the although the check shows cleared from our account, the recipient has not received the paper check yet - and may not for 2-3 days.  We discovered this because the payroll checks we write this way (to ourselves) never arrive on the due date but clear the business account.  It appears to be a new way for banks to ride the ""float"" and draw interest on the money.  It happens with every check processed through the bill pay system and not with electronic transfers." "What does it mean that the bank will ""hold you responsible""? Clearly   the money won't be credited. Will you be charged a fee like an NSF   cheque? Will they try to prosecute you? Is there any way to confirm whether a cashiers cheque is forged? Could you for example tell your bank that you were uncertain of the origin, and ask them to confirm it? Can you call the issuer and verify (from the serial number) that they did in fact issue a cheque for that amount with you as the payee? Even calling the bank might not help. The first verification is that the bank exists, and that the account number and name match and that they did issue a check. But that doesn't cover the situation where the person that sent you the check wasn't who they claimed to be. That is the theft that could take weeks to find." I suspect @SpehroPefhany is correct and that your bank will cash a check from the US Department of the Treasury.  Especially since they're the same ones who guarantee the U.S. Dollar.  They may hold the funds until the check clears, but I think you'll have good luck going through your bank.  Of course, fees and exchange rate are a factor.   Consider browsing the IRS and US Treasury Department websites for suggestions/FAQs.   I suggest you line up a way to cash it, and make sure there's enough left after fees and exchange rate and postage to get the check that the whole process is worth it, all before you ask it to be shipped to you.   If there's no way to do it through your bank, through a money exchange business (those at the airport come to mind) or through your government (postal bank?), and the check is enough that you're willing to go through some trouble, then you should look into assigning power of attorney for this purpose.  I don't know if it is possible, but it might be worth looking into. Look for US based banks in your area. Your credit card company will send you funds, probably a paper check, if you have a negative balance.  So this situation will not last long.  I'd guess 3-6 months at most, depending on the company's procedures. "Typically I'll carry the charge for quite awhile, up to a year.  If it hasn't cleared by then, I contact the institution that should have received the money to see what they want to do about it.  If they tell me not to worry about it, then I change the payee to be ""Overdraft Protection"", and consider it as having been spent.  That way I build up (slowly) a cushion in my checking account." Have you tried contacting them via phone or e-mail to follow up?  If not, definitely do that first.   If no response, you can keep this simple: Close your old account, write a personal check from your new one, and send the check with an explanatory note via Certified Mail.  That will get you proof that it was delivered successfully (or not).  Leave the money in your account for 180 days.  Your check should be void after that and cannot be cashed (check with your bank on this) and if it's still unclaimed they will need to contact you to request payment. Checks actually have a limited lifespan before the bank no longer has to honor them, which simplifies this question. After about 6 months you assume that check won't be cashed. If they find it after that, you write them a new check. If they don't, you really should pester them to do so. "There are, in fact, two balances kept for your account by most banks that have to comply with common convenience banking laws.  The first is your actual balance; it is simply the sum total of all deposits and withdrawals that have cleared the account; that is, both your bank and the bank from which the deposit came or to which the payment will go have exchanged necessary proof of authorization from the payor, and have confirmed with each other that the money has actually been debited from the account of the payor, transferred between the banks and credited to the account of the payee.  The second balance is the ""available balance"". This is the actual balance, plus any amount that the bank is ""floating"" you while a deposit clears, minus any amount that the bank has received notice of that you may have just authorized, but for which either full proof of authorization or the definite amount (or both) have not been confirmed. This is what's happening here. Your bank received notice that you intended to pay the train company $X. They put an ""authorization hold"" on that $X, deducting it from your available balance but not your actual balance. The bank then, for whatever reason, declined to process the actual transaction (insufficient funds, suspicion of theft/fraud), but kept the hold in place in case the transaction was re-attempted. Holds for debit purchases usually expire between 1 and 5 days after being placed if the hold is not subsequently ""settled"" by the merchant providing definite proof of amount and authorization before that time. The expiration time mainly depends on the policy of the bank holding your account. Holds can remain in place as long as thirty days for certain accounts or types of payment, again depending on bank policy. In certain circumstances, the bank can remove a hold on request. But it is the bank, and not the merchant, that you must contact to remove a hold or even inquire about one." "•Have you had any problems with bills not being paid? NO •If you had issues, were they addressed satisfactorily? Answer: A big issue that blindsided me:  With my bank, the funds come out of my account right away, but the actual payment is done through a third-party service. On my bank's online site it appears that the payment has been made, but that does not necessarily mean that the intended recipient has cashed it.  Looking online at my credit union's site is useless, because all I can tell is that the payment has been sent. The only way to verify payment is to contact the intended recipient.  Or I may telephone the online bill pay representative at my bank/credit union, who has access to the third party service. If I do nothing, after 90 days, the check is void, at which time the third party service notifies the bank/credit union and the funds will eventually end up back in my account.  I learned this today, after a third-party paper check to a health care provider was returned to me via mail by the recipient (because insurance had already paid and I did not owe them anything). The money was in the hands of the third-party service, not in my account, nor that of my credit union nor the recipient. At first my credit union told me that I would have to contact the third-party service myself and work it out. I said ""NO WAY"" and the credit union did get the money back into account the same day. This is a sweet deal for the third party, who has my money interest-free anywhere from a few days to three months. And risk-free as well, because the money goes directly from my account to the third party service." Given you mention a check clearing, in addition to debit card holds as JoeTaxpayer notes, you may also have funds that are on hold for that reason.  While the bank may have stated it would be a one day hold, some banks may mean business days (Monday-Friday), and so it will become available on Monday. This is because checks are not always instantly withdrawn from the other account (although this is becoming much more common post-electronic check reform), so the bank wants to make sure it actually is getting the money from the check; after all, if the check you deposited bounces, the bank doesn't want to end up footing the bill. The bank allows you some portion up front, largely as a customer service; the amount varies from bank to bank, but it's generally a small amount they don't mind risking.  $200 is a pretty good amount, actually; back when I was just out of college and frequently spending the last $50 in my account, the pre-clearance amount was usually $50. If the bank does this to you regularly and you feel that it is unfair in how long it holds checks, you might consider shopping around; different banks have different hold policies, or might allow you a larger amount up front.  In particular, online banks tend to have more favorable terms this way. "Checks (in the US, anyway) are only good for six months after they have been written. After that. under the US Uniform Commerical Code they are considered ""stale checks"" and banks need not accept them. My experience is that they generally won't -- but you probably shouldn't count on that, either when figuring out whether to try depositing an old check or figuring out how much cash you need to keep in your checking account to cover recent stale checks. The check you now hold is certainly a statement of intent to pay you and thus is a useful document to supplement other evidence that they still owe you the money -- but since checks can be cancelled and/or a replacement check may have been issued, its value for that purpose may be limited. You can try depositing it and see what happens. If that doesn't work (or you don't want to bother trying it) you can contact the retirement plan, point out that this check went uncashed, and ask them to send you a replacement. If they haven't already done so (you might want to check your own records for that), there shouldn't be any problem with this. (Note: Many business checks have a statement printed on them that they're only good for 90 days or so. If yours does, you can skip trying to cash it; just contact the retirement plan offices.)" "If the answer were ""no,"" you still found the 'black swan' type exception that proves the answer to be ""yes,"" right? My experience is this - again just my experience, my bank - When by balance goes below $10, I have the account trigger an email. I wrote a check I forgot to register and subtract, so the email was sent and the account balance in fact showed negative. I transferred to cover the check and the next day, there was a history that didn't go negative, the evening deposit was credited prior to check clearing.  I set up my bills on line. I set a transfer in advance for the same dollar amount as a bill that was due, e.g. $1000 transfer for a $1000 bill. I woke up to an email, and the account showed the bill was paid prior to the transfer. So one line showed going -$900, and the next line +$100 after transfer. Even though it's the same online process. Again, the next day the history re-ordered to look like I was never negative. But even on a day I know I'm having payments issued, I can never just ignore that email.  The first time this happened, I asked the bank, and they said if the negative went until the next day, I'd get an overdraft/short balance notice.  This is a situation to ask your bank how they handle this."