Expert: Paul Henneman - 12/20/2011

Question
what happens when you don't cash your dividend check
what happens if you don’t  collect dividends
do you lose dividends or get more stocks

Answer
Jack,
  Thank you for your question!
Usually a dividend check is like a regular check, it does expire. However, this does not mean you lose the payment, you will likely just have to contact the company and have a new check issued in replacement.
  Many investors do choose to not get a check for the dividend payments, and instead purchase more stock with it. This is commonly called simply 'reinvesting dividends'.  Additional stock can be automatically added to your balance with the amount of the dividend payment. You always collect dividends, the choice is if you wish to receive it as payment, or if you wish to use the dividend payments to purchase more of the stock.

I did find this good article that describes dividends in greater detail, I would suggest reading it to fully understand them:
http://www.investorguide.com/igu-article-431-investing-basics-what-are-dividends

I hope this helps, please do not hesitate to follow up with me if I can offer anything additional.

Sincerely,
Paul Henneman
President
ValuEngine Inc
www.ValuEngine.com