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TeachMeFinance.com - explain check check -- a written order instructing a thrift institution or bank to pay immediately on demand a specified amount of money from the check writer's account to the person named on the check or, if a specific person is not named, to whoever bears the check to the institution for payment. historic definition... Check -- An order for money that is on deposit with a bank, banker, trust company or other monetary institution. A check differs from a bill of exchange in that it is always payable on demand and always purports to be drawn against a deposit of funds. If the amount stated in words and the amount stated in figures in a check do not agree the words govern. If a check passes out of the maker's hands without having been dated the holder may write in the space provided for the date a date which must be the date upon which the check was received by him but no other date. A check dated ahead is usually regarded as a bill of exchange rather than a check. When a check is paid before the date written on it the money so paid can be recovered. A bank is not liable to the holder of a check unless and until it accepts or certifies the check. A bank is not bound to make partial payment on a check if the drawer has not sufficient funds to his credit to make payment in full. If a depositor draws several checks amounting in the aggregate to more than he has standing to his credit the bank pays the checks in the order of presentation without regard to dates or numbers until the depositor's credit is exhausted. The bank may refuse to honor checks subsequently presented. The holder of a check ordinarily may delay presentation of it to the bank without absolving the drawer from liability. If, however, the bank at which the check is payable fails after the check has been outstanding for a reasonable time and the bank at the time of its failure is in possession of funds of the drawer sufficient to pay the check the loss falls on the holder of the check. But in order to hold the indorser the check should be presented to the bank for collection the day it is received by the payee (the one to whom the amount of it is to be paid) it must be presented the following day. In case the payee does not reside in the place where is situated the bank upon which the check is drawn the payee must transmit it for collection not later than the hour for the closing of the last mail on the day following the day on which he received it. A bank receiving it for collection must forward it on the day .of its receipt. To send it through various banks or through parties in various places constitutes negligence if the time of presentation is thereby delayed. About the author Mark McCracken Author: Mark McCracken is a corporate trainer and author living in Higashi Osaka, Japan. He is the author of thousands of online articles as well as the Business English textbook, "25 Business Skills in English". Copyright © 2005 by Mark McCracken, All Rights Reserved. TeachMeFinance.com is an informational website, and should not be used as a substitute for professional financial or legal advice. TeachMeFinance.com and its owner recommend consultation with a professional financial advisor prior to any investment or financial decision. Please read our disclaimer.