The Farmers & Mechanics National Bank of Fort Worth, Texas v. Wilkinson, Trustee and the United States case in 1924 revolved around a dispute over priority of payment from an insolvent debtor's estate. The bank had loaned money to a company that subsequently went bankrupt. The trustee for the bankruptcy argued that certain payments made by the company to the bank within four months before filing for bankruptcy were preferential and should be returned to the estate for distribution among all creditors equally. Meanwhile, another creditor -the U.S government- claimed it should have first rights on any recovered funds due to tax liens against property owned by the debtor. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of both defendants (Wilkinson and US Government). It held that under federal law at that time, when an insolvent debtor makes a preferential transfer which is later set aside or recovered back into their estate upon bankruptcy proceedings; such recovery does not create new assets but merely restores what was improperly diverted from its original course - thus preserving pre-existing lien priorities including those held by tax authorities.

In the dissenting opinion for the case of Farmers & Mechanics National Bank of Fort Worth, Texas v. Wilkinson, Trustee and The United States (1924), it was argued that a bank should not be held liable for paying on a check which had been fraudulently altered by an unknown third party after issuance. This view maintained that once the check left possession of its issuer, any subsequent alterations were beyond their control or responsibility. It was also suggested that holding banks accountable in such situations would create an undue burden on them to verify every detail of each transaction they process - something seen as impractical given the volume and speed at which modern banking operates. Furthermore, this perspective contended that if anyone should bear liability in these cases it should be those who accept fraudulent checks without adequately verifying their authenticity first.