Never Use a Pencil

Always use ink; the use of pencil puts you at a huge risk of fraud. Using lead, or even erasable ink, makes it easy for a dishonest person to alter the amount on the check. It is necessary to use a form of ink to prevent others accessing your blank check. A permanent marker is actually much better to use than a regular pen. This is particularly important to stress, since there have been episodes where common people have engaged in "check washing," wherein criminals use chemicals to remove the ink from checks so as to alter them. You can avoid this scenario altogether if you use permanent marker.

Dating and Identifying

When you first look at the check, it might seem complicated. All of those blanks are easy to fill out once you have all of the information, though. The first step is to fill out the current date on the check. Make sure to correctly identify the date, as post-dating a check is actually illegal. Once you've done that, you should write the name of the person who will be receiving the check on the "pay to the order of" line. Be sure to include their complete name.

Filling in the Amount

The foremost piece of information on the check is the amount of money you want the Bank to pay. This information will need to be inputted twice. The first place to put the information is in the dollar amount line. You'll find this just under the line that says "PAY TO THE ORDER OF." Include the full amount and any cents that are involved in the transaction. You need to complete this portion of the check thoroughly to avoid another from changing your numbers. Look at the right side of the check. Put the numbers you see there in the amount box.

Signing the Check

Signing the check may be the last but not the least part of check writing. Be absolutely certain to sign the check with your own unique, standard signature, very stylistically similar to the one printed on your driver's license. You could face the hassle of questions and accusations about fraud if you don't sign the check with your standard signature. Deviations can cause the bank to red flag your check. Given how much check fraud and forgery is going on these days, banks are vigilant against suspicious-looking signatures that do not match up against your normal signature. The info section is somehow optional. Many people elect to make a quick note of what the check was for, just to keep their own bookkeeping records straight. Speaking broadly, you will be better off providing as much information as possible.

Overall, writing a check isn't a difficult thing. It isn't something that should be taken lightly, though. Take great care to fill out each part of the check as carefully as possible, so that there won't be any chance that your check is altered. This will save you a potential headache in the future.