Who Owns Cashier's Check?

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Question:

We have customers who purchase cashier's checks and request that the remitter be someone other than themselves. The customer is the one paying for the cashier's check. Who would be the owner of this check, the remitter or the person who purchased it?

Answer:

That will depend upon "facts not in evidence," such as the relationship between the remitter and the purchaser (did the remitter actually request that the purchaser obtain the check?) and whether the remitter received the check from the purchaser.

And it could also depend on your purpose in knowing who the "owner" is. If it is for the purpose of abandoned property laws, I believe that most states treat the payee as the party with an interest in the check if surrendered as abandoned property.

If the purpose is to know who can file a UCC Section 3-312 claim, the only parties with the right to make such a claim are the remitter and the payee. No other party, such as the purchaser (acting for the remitter) or a holder subsequent to the payee, has that right.

If the purpose is to determine who has an insured interest in the check if the bank fails, it's the payee or a subsequent holder of the check if negotiated to that holder in accordance with the UCC (subject, of course, to FDIC acceptance of the claim).

First published on BankersOnline.com 2/28/11