CHECK - A written order or request
addressed to a bank or persons carrying on the banking
business and drawn upon them by a party having money
in their hands, requesting them to pay on presentment
to a person therein named or to bearer, a named sum
of money.
It is said that checks are uniformly payable to bearer.
But that is not so in practice in the United States
where they are generally payable to bearer, but sometimes
they are payable to order.
Checks are negotiable instruments, as bills of exchange;
though, strictly speaking, they are due before payment
has been demanded, in which respect they differ from
promissory notes and bills of exchange payable on
a particular day.
The differences between a common check and a bill
of exchange are; First, that a check may be taken
after it is overdue and still the holder is not subject
to the equities wbich may exist between the drawer
and the party from whom he receives it; in the case
of bills of exchange, the holder is subject to such
equity. Secondly, the drawer of a bill of exchange
is liable only on the condition that it be presented
in due time, and if it be dishonored, that he has
had notice; but such is not the case with a check.
No delay will excuse the drawer of it, unless he has
suffered some loss or injury on that account and then
only pro tanto.
There is a kind of check known by the name of memorandum
checks; these are given in general with an understanding
that they are not to be presented at the bank on which
they are drawn for payment; and, as between the parties,
they have no other effect than an IOU or common due
bill; but third persons who become the holders of
them for a valuable consideration, without notice
have all the rights which the holders of ordinary
cheeks can lawfully claim.
Giving a creditor a check on a bank does not constitute
payment of a debt. But a tender was held good when
made by a check contained in a letter, requesting
a receipt in return, which the plaintiff sent back,
demanding a larger sum without objecting to the nature
of the tender.
A check delivered by a testator in his lifetime to
a person as a gift and not presented till after his
death, was considered as a part of his will and allowed
to be proved as such.
