I live in Ohio. My previous employer is based out of California. I was a salaried employee and ended my employment over 3 weeks ago. I received a direct deposit in the amount of my normal salary on Friday. Obviously I advised the company and without notice or authorization they removed the money from my checking account. Can they legally take back or ask for the overpayment and can they withdrawl money or reverse the payroll submission from my checking account without my authorization?

If they had any brains when they created the direct deposit authorization form, they should have included that notice on it. It is perfectly legal for them to reverse a direct deposit that was originated in error. I don't understand the problem anyway. Why should they wait for you? They may have been burned in the past (as have many employers). You were overpaid; they saved you the trouble of writing a check. Let it go.