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My mother purchased a bank check from her bank (that came from her savings account) for around $25-30K & was made out to a business partner.

She passed away & I found the bank check in her purse (Apparently she did not give it to the recipient). I am the executor of her estate & I took the bank check & the death certificate to a local branch of the bank. The Bank told me there was nothing they could do because the funds were already taken from her account.

I was thinking that uncashed Bank check can be credited by to Mom's estate. I was working with an attorney who promised they could help to recover that money for a fee. I had already given the attorney the original bank check; but since I could not pay him fees, I did not pursue further. I know now that was a stupid mistake. So basically we dismissed the check.

After awhile went by, my dad did some digging around & found out the attorney that we turned over the check to had passed away. As far as we know, he still had the original check. After some more inquiry, my dad found out the bank did have a record of the $25K check that came from my mom's savings account & I called about it. The legal department at the Bank left me a message telling me that the bank check was paid & the recipient got the funds.

My question is how could he have cashed it without the original bank check? Something doesn't sound right. Please help, I'm desperate to get this resolved.

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The legal department at the Bank left me a message telling me that the bank check was paid & the recipient got the funds.

Call up the bank and find out who the recipient was. Generally it can only be cashed by the person whose name is on it - the original business partner to whom it was intended. It is unlikely to be cashed by the attorney, unless he misrepresented the facts to the bank and got the funds.

My question is how could he have cashed it without the original bank check?

The other possibility is your mom lost this check, went to the bank and requested them to cancel this and reissue a fresh banker's check and give it to the business partner - in which case the check you had was worthless.

You would need to work with the bank and ask them for details. However without the details of the original bank check that you found, it would be difficult for the bank to help you.

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    s/who's/whose/ (possessive pronouns don't have apostrophes in them)
    – Monty Harder
    Commented Nov 17, 2016 at 16:43
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How? Basically all banks nowadays allow online deposits from a smartphone - you take a picture from the front and back of the check, and submit it, and that's it. You still have the paper check, and it looks pristine, but it is deposited (and the paper is worthless).

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