Quote Originally Posted by David Merrill View Post
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.
OK, what I normally do is sign my conventional (first and last) name on the back of the check plus put my brokerage firm account number and the name of my LLC all on the back of the check.

Then I mail it to the brokerage firm (out of state) along with a deposit slip.

Then, after it is OK'd at the brokerage firm, I use a debit card from the brokerage firm at a local ATM machine to get cash and deposit it into a local bank account.

Since the brokerage firm is out of state, I don't deal with any tellers there. Would it still be advisable to strike through the "Pay to the Order of" on the front of the check?

Considering this additional data, what would you suggest?