Real life MMD: Should I cheque out my Nan?

gymtime

Grandmothers are there for 'truth'. She'll love you all the more if you snuggle up to her and make 'light' of what a silly billy you have been in not explaining your memory loss earlier. She may just admit that she has occasional memory losses too. She'll love to know that you open up to her about anything! Make sure that she genuinely can still afford this money - gently ask her. Big hug for Grandma and 'give her a single flower' to say how much you love her. :smileyhea

purpleweasel

My Gran would probably have threatened me with a clip round the ear for being useless with money...then given me another cheque

I do agree about keeping it though, if you can afford to do without the £25, memories are priceless and i now treasure even the little notes i kept from my much-missed Gran.

By the way, did JuliusCaeser mention a class for Grans? Also, my friend says in Wales there are lots of Nans of all classes!

deptfreemoneytart

Tell your Nanna exactly what you did, be honest.
You misplaced the cheque, looked frantically for the cheque, eventually found the, by then out of date cheque, bank wouldn't honour the cheque, which was a bummer.
Say it in a tone of your a silly sod, but DON'T ask her to write another one.
She will do it anyway, cause she's your NANNA.

John (Granpa to 3 lovely, untidy, forgetful Grandchildren) I'd expect them to lose a piece of paper.

pollypenny

Put it down to experience. You lost it = your loss.

My niece, who earns rather a lot more than my pension, was able to use a theatre ticket recently. She offered to pay, but if she hadn't come it would have been wasted anyway.

I wouldn't dream of charging her. You shouldn't ask your grandmother for another cheque.

tabaira

As you have managed all this time without her cheque, you should forego the pleasure of this money. Us Nan's are not bottomless pits! But don't tell her. Be truly altrusitic over this.

stujean

Pay the cheque in to your bank account - the cashier will probably not notice the date. The paying banf (your Nan's) will not look at any cheques under £2,000 and will pay it.

It is not worthwhile for banks to examine all cheques but pay up if there are any claims.

hedgie67

When the Cheques Act was rewritten in 1996, a cheque was redefined as a "Negotiable Instrument Payable Without Term". In other words, it has no expiry date.

However, the Limitations Act 1980 prevents a claim on a debt if the debt has been outstanding for more than 6 years, so effectively, a cheque is valid for 6 years if the underlying debt has not already been settled. In this context, a debt would include a gift.
This is to allow for a situation when for example a cheque had been lost in the post and a replacement issued and banked. If the original cheque turns up, the debt has been settled and so payment of the original cannot be enforced, even if it is less than 6 years old.

Other posters have noted that banks don't examine dates on small cheques, which is partially true. This refers to the paying bank, ie the bank the cheque is drawn on. If the cashier at YOUR bank (the payee's bank) has told you the cheque is out of date, then you can still insist on them trying for payment, as only the drawers bank has the right to refuse.
Be aware that neither bank has the right to charge a personal customer for a cheque refused on a technicality (which includes out of date).

As for the moral side of things, if you really must process the cheque, the right thing to do is to very carefully explain to Granny that you've found her cheque and ask if it's still ok to put it through. But, be sensitive - if her reaction has any hint of surprise or concern, as though putting it through may cause her any financial embarrassment, then you'll just have to put it down to experience and not process the cheque. At the end of the day, do you want to risk upsetting Granny by telling her? It all depends on your relationship with your Gran, her age, her financial situation - there's no straight answer, which is why the question was posted in the first place!

CrispyUK

My Nan has phoned me in the past when I've not cashed a cheque within a couple of months as she hadn't seen it go out of her account - I explained I'd just not had chance to get it to the bank and she's now reverted to cash in the cards (always hand-delivered), bless her

Having said that - if I was in the dilemma described above I would have just owned up and mentioned it to my Nan what'd happened, we'd have a laugh about it - and she would probably have written a new one on the spot.

If you're going to try and cash it, a common courtesy would be to let Nan know so it doesn't come unexpected on her statement, she may have forgotten about it.

On the naming side of things, I think it's whatever you and your family choose and are used to, calling it a class thing is nonsense. For me, my Dad's parents are Grandma & Grandad and my Mum's parents are Nan & Grandad, that's the way it's always been for it. It does also help differentiate them, "do you mean Nan-Grandad or Grandma-Grandad?" lol

Uplink

scotsbob wrote: »

[...] ask her to write another cheque PLUS the interest due that she has been gaining on it while it was in her account rater than yours.

Sure honey. That will be £(Interest Value, probably 1p or so if she got one of those fancy current accounts that pay interest) in admin fees. *big smile*

ska_lover

I wouldn't count missing out on £25 from an elderly relative as taking much of a ''blow'' as you put it. Do not cash it now. She may well have forgotten about it, and not be able to cover it.