If you deposit a big amount you will have to wait until that check clears the bank before you can draw out that money and yes they probably will question it because if it bounces, they are out that money if you don't cover that check.

the patriot act causes this, to try to stop money laundering is the law, i work in banking is the reason i know.

It has to do with cash and money laundering. A check is traceable so you can deposit a check for $15K and it will go through in the normal course of business (whatever their procedures are) without questioning you. If you deposit I believe over $10,000 in CASH you need to explain where you got it and they fill in a form. Same with bringing more than $10,000 on a plane with you to or from another country. I am sure this is why there are many, many many cash deposits of under $9,999.

I am not sure it may make a difference what type of check it is. All I can tell you is my own experience. My Uncle (mother'as brother) died several years ago. He had a nice amount of money. After taxes attorney's fees and other expenses there was about $850,000.00 left in his estate split between 10 surviving brothers sisters nieces and nephews. He was never married so he had no kids of his own. Anyway the first check I got was drawn on the estate account and it was for $25,000. I deposited that with no problems and no questions asked. The next check was for $55,000 again no questions asked when I deposited it but again it was drawn on an estate account so that may have had something to do with it. There were 2 much more smaller checks for $3,000 and 1,500 as well so no questions asked on those 2

It is not the bank but the Internal Revenue/Income Tax people who will be asking you about the source of funds. So always keep your records straight. Keep a photocopy of the cheque in your records. Get a letter from the peson who sent you the check as to whether it is a gift or a fee for services rendered. If it is a gift it would be excempt from tax. If it is an income you are liable to pay tax on it. As long as you keep your accounts and records straight there is no problem awaiting you. You could deposit any amount of money in a bank.

First of all, you can deposit and withdraw ANY amount of money to and from your account(s) that you wish. NOTHING bad will happen and no guys in black suits and sunglasses will show up at your door to question you. Well, unless it's part of a criminal activity the authorities are investigating. The bank reports all your interest earned to the IRS anyway...so they can figure out how much money you've had in your acocunt that way, if they wish. The law you are probably refering to is the "Bank Secrecy Act" of 1970, which is a law law intended to detect/report/deter criminal, money laundering and terrorist financing activities in the financial system. It enables law enforcement people to track the trail of large money transactions for criminal activities. There is no assumption of criminal activity on every transaction. Indeed, the vast majority of transactions I would suspect to be of perfectly legitimate origins. Car sales, sales of property and houses, gift transactions, and so forth. Banks are required to report transactions exceeding $10,000 by this law. And there is nothing wrong with this...unless the money came from some kind of illegal activity which might be eventually tracked by the police if they were to start investigating the local drug dealer or something. http://www.bankingquestions.com/businessaccounts/q_depositreportedtoirs.html http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=152532,00.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Secrecy_Act