Originally Posted by
David Merrill
Don't write anything at all on it then. It is when you withdraw the cash that you would redeem the lawful money. Since you are sending it to a brokerage firm (as I understand it) it will remain credit on account and non-taxable until you withdraw it. Put your demand on the withdrawal slip.
You could strikethrough the Pay to the Order of: but that would not be conspicuous. It could be determined that the teller at the brokerage firm sees so many checks in a day that one with such a subtle claim might not be noticed.