Cheques made out to a deceased parent

What_time_is_it

Hi there.

Following the death of my partner's mother, we found some cheques relating to share dividends from Barclays Bank (and a couple of others) made out to my partner's father. He passed away 8 years ago and the cheques were found either in a large file of "paperwork" or in unopened letters. They date from 2002-2015.

Is there anything we can do with these? Can they be cashed?

Thanks.

born_again

Can we take it that the bank account was closed after death?

You could ask the co's that issued them is they would be prepared to reissue, but feel given statute of limitations is 6 years, that they will say sorry no.

DE_612183

cheques are only valid for 6 months - you will need to contact the issuer.

not sure when it came in but cheques can be paid into backs via banking apps ( so the physical cheque doesn't actually go to the bank ) - so of these may apply...

What_time_is_it

Thanks for the advice. I suspect it's very unlikely that they will pay up, but as one of the cheques is for about £750 (it was in an unopened envelope stuffed away amongst a load of junk mail and other bank statements) it's worth a shot.

Sounds like my best bet is to contact the issuer of the cheque? In this case, Barclays Bank.
It's nothing to do with previous bank accounts. He just had some shares in Barclays at some point.

Hoenir

Financial records need only be retained for 6 years. That's the solid wall that lies ahead. 

DE_612183

Do you know if the shares were sold as part of the estate?

Barclays shares are worth £220 a go.

Are you sure they are shares for Barclays, and not just issued by Barclays? 

Hoenir

Share prices are quoted in pence not pounds. 

What_time_is_it

They were Barclays shares which have since been sold.

Brie

Cheques don't actually need to be less than 6 months old to be cashed.  There is a preference for them to be cashed within that period because it makes accounting easier.  And as someone has already stated you might manage to deposit them into an account via an app without anyone noticing but Barclays is likely to come back to you eventually.

So contact Barclays and ask for them to be reissued in the name of someone who should ultimately receive the money.  It might require providing a copy of both dad's and mom's wills (assuming she was the beneficiary) so there's a chain linking to the rightful recipient.  

I'd start with Barclays Wealth as they deal with shares and might be better equipped to help.  And the bereavement team will be good one to aim for but I can't find a proper contact number for them unfortunately.  

Contact Us | Wealth Management | Barclays

tetrarch

This sounds like this isn't a Bank or Wealth problem, but a Registrar issue.

All registrar's keep a record of dividends unclaimed (i.e. where the cheques haven't been cashed). Barclays Registrar is via here:
9
https://home.barclays/investor-relations/shareholder-information/

Cheques for any other paper holdings will have been issued in the same way. It is a painful (and sometimes laden with excessive fees) process, especislly if you're dealing with Capita, but these monies are still due to the original shareholder and are payable to the estate.

Regards

Tet