It prevents the other business owner who is on the client-side of the table from cashing old and new checks, thereby maintaining transparency in the business. Many checks, including personal checks, have a stale dated checks 6-month expiration date. Other types of checks can take longer to expire or may not expire at all. Some banks may allow you to deposit a check that’s gone stale if they believe the funds will be available.
- But figuring out what to do if a check resurfaces may seem confusing, especially if they resurface months, or even years, later—perhaps well after their expiration date.
- If you ever come across an old check, the best option might be to contact the issuing bank or the check’s issuer to determine its current status.
- It will also prevent the person from making any deposits, as all transactions will be effectively stopped or “frozen” until the account is unfrozen.
- These checks are returned to the bank and the issuer is charged a fee as a penalty.
- Our in-house research team and on-site financial experts work together to create content that’s accurate, impartial, and up to date.
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Checks can be a convenient way to make and receive payments. However, if you’ve ever found a check several months after it was issued, you may have wondered, “Do checks expire? ” It’s a good question to ask, and the answer will likely depend on the type of check. Having a bookkeeper or accountant in the organization can be a great help to the employer.
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Confirm that your account has sufficient funds to avoid additional fees. Be considerate — call or text the payer to let them know your intent. Make sure to also double-check that they haven’t switched financial institutions or opened a new account. Different types of checks are valid for different amounts of time.
Next steps: Ways to avoid a check going stale
- If somebody fails to deposit or cash a check you wrote, they may have difficulty negotiating the check after six months.
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- However, you can still contact the bank and request a replacement for a stale cashier’s check.
- No bank in the United States has any obligation to cash checks that are more than 180 days old.
- However, this does not necessarily mean that all is lost if an expired check resurfaces.
Still, it’s best to honor any language on a check—either deposit the check promptly or contact the check writer if you can’t make the deadline. If you write a replacement or substitute check, it’s wise to request a stop payment on the original check so you don’t pay twice. Checks can make payments inexpensive and easy, but what happens when nobody deposits them? But the obligation to pay still exists, so it’s best to deal with payments as soon as possible. However, the institutions and companies that issue them may have rules determining when unused money orders become considered abandoned property. They may also charge fees that eat away at a money order’s value.
If you forgot to deposit a check and it’s been more than six months since you received it, it might be considered stale. You can try and deposit or cash it, but you risk the check being rejected by your bank or possibly returned from the issuing bank. Before trying to cash or deposit an outdated check, consider reaching out to the check writer and ask for a replacement check.
How Long Are Personal Checks Legally Valid?
State and local governments may set their own expiration dates, so if you lose the check or more than six months have gone by, it’s best to contact the agency that sent it to you. But there are several exceptions, and there’s no guarantee that banks will reject checks after that time. The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which most states use as a model for the law, says that banks do not need to honor old checks. But banks can still process those payments if they believe the check is good. U.S. Treasury checks expire one year from the date they were issued.
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- A certified check is a check verified – or certified – by a bank ensuring that the stated funds are available in the account to cover the check.
- Even if both banks accept the old check, it could bounce later due to insufficient funds.
- Some checks become stale if dated after 60 or 90 days, while all become void after six months.
- It is at the discretion of the individual bank to choose whether or not to cash or deposit an old check.