Uncashed 17 year old cheque in dads effects

konark

Why does a cheque become worthless after 6 years? I thought they were valid forever.

Yorkshireman99

konark wrote: »

Why does a cheque become worthless after 6 years? I thought they were valid forever.

As a general rule cheques become "stale" after six months and the issuing bank will refuse to pay them unless they are revalidated by the person drawing the cheque. In theory you can sue for payment of a cheque for six, and possibly 12 years, after the issue date. IMHO the OP has little chance of recovering the money because it is well beyond the time allowed.

lincroft1710

There remains the possibility that a second cheque was issued and cashed.

lincroft1710

Malcnascar wrote: »

Now clearly, the more information you can give to Aviva the more likely it is able to help.
have a look here http://www.aviva.co.uk/existing-customers/tracing-unclaimed-assets/what-do-i-need-to-do.html

The OP's father was not an Aviva customer, just a 3rd party.

Aced2016

That would have a lot of money 17 years ago. And especially for someone to forget to bank it. Were your parents well off to not notice this ?

Can your mum not remember them getting a lump sum around that time ?

I think he misplaced it possibly and since got a replacement. Just due to the amount I couldn't see anyone forgetting about it, unless they were very comfortable financially.