I was wrongfully issued a check by the university I attend for overpaying tuition. They added a zero to the amount I paid somewhere down the line and I was mailed a six figure check for the difference. Being of high character, I alerted them to the mistake and it was corrected.

Assuming I tried to deposit the check and it cleared. Legally would I have to return the money when they caught their mistake?

Not only would you had to repay it, accepting it and keeping it ( in some areas) would or could be criminal, so if you did not pay it back or had spent it, you may have been facing criminal charges.

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Originally Posted by stragastrore

I was wrongfully issued a check by the university I attend for overpaying tuition. They added a zero to the amount I paid somewhere down the line and I was mailed a six figure check for the difference. Being of high character, I alerted them to the mistake and it was corrected.

Assuming I tried to deposit the check and it cleared. Legally would I have to return the money when they caught their mistake?

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Yes, if they had caught their mistake, after you deposited the money, you would have had to return it, otherwise it would have been theft.