A personal or business check is generally valid for six months from the date written on it, a U.S. Treasury check for one year, and cashier’s checks, money orders, and traveler’s checks usually have no set expiration although the issuing bank may print its own cutoff. So how long is a check valid for depends less on the paper itself than on who wrote it and what type of check it is. The rules below cover each category, plus what happens if you try to deposit one that has aged past its window.
Personal and Business Checks: Six Months
Under the Uniform Commercial Code, a bank has no obligation to pay a check presented more than six months after its date.1Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 4-404 – Bank Not Obliged to Pay Check More Than Six Months Old After that, banks call the check “stale-dated.” The rule is the same for a paycheck from an employer, a refund check from a business, or a check written by a friend.
Stale doesn’t mean void. The bank may still choose to pay a stale check in good faith, and if it does, the money comes out of the check writer’s account.1Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 4-404 – Bank Not Obliged to Pay Check More Than Six Months Old Whether it clears depends on the paying bank’s policy and on whether the account still has the funds. Some mobile deposit apps will reject a check dated more than six months earlier before the deposit even goes through.
Federal Government Checks: One Year
U.S. Treasury checks must be cashed or deposited within 12 months of the date printed on them, and each one carries the legend “VOID AFTER ONE YEAR” above the disbursing officer’s signature.2Treasury Financial Experience (TFX). Chapter 7000 Cancellations, Deposits, Reclamations, and Claims for Checks Drawn on the U.S. Treasury This covers IRS tax refund checks, Social Security benefit checks, and other federal payments. Treasury typically cancels the check in the 14th month after issuance and returns the funds to the agency that authorized the payment.3Social Security Administration. Payments to the Social Security Trust Funds FY 2026 Congressional Justification
The money isn’t gone. Any claim for a Treasury check has to be filed with the agency that issued it within one year of the check’s date.4eCFR. 31 CFR Part 245 – Claims on Account of Treasury Checks For an expired IRS refund, file Form 3911 or use the “Where’s My Refund?” tool at irs.gov.5IRS. About Form 3911, Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund For a Social Security check, contact the Social Security Administration to request reissuance.
State government checks run on their own timers. Some states use six months, others match the federal one-year window. Look for “void after” language on the check itself. Missing the printed deadline doesn’t forfeit the money; you contact the issuing agency for a replacement.
Cashier’s Checks, Certified Checks, Money Orders, and Traveler’s Checks
Cashier’s checks and certified checks are backed by the issuing bank rather than an individual account. The UCC’s six-month rule specifically excludes certified checks, so a bank’s obligation on that instrument doesn’t lapse the way it does for a personal check.1Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 4-404 – Bank Not Obliged to Pay Check More Than Six Months Old
Even so, many banks print a “void after” notice directly on cashier’s checks, commonly setting a 60- to 180-day window. If that language appears, a teller may refuse to process the check after the printed date, even though the bank still holds the underlying funds. The remedy in that case is to contact the issuing bank rather than trying to deposit the check again.
U.S. Postal Service money orders never expire and do not accrue interest; you can cash one regardless of how old it is.6USPS. Sending Money Orders Money orders from private issuers like Western Union or MoneyGram follow their own terms, printed on the instrument. American Express traveler’s checks also remain valid indefinitely, even though the company no longer sells new ones.7American Express. Travelers Cheques
What Happens if You Deposit a Stale Check
Depositing a check that’s more than six months old can create problems on your side of the transaction, not just the check writer’s. Your bank may accept the deposit, but the paying bank can still reject it, and when that happens the funds get pulled back out of your account.
Regulation CC treats age as a red flag. A bank that accepts a stale-dated deposit can place an extended hold on the funds, up to five extra business days for local checks and six extra business days for nonlocal checks beyond the normal availability schedule. The rule explicitly identifies checks deposited more than six months after their date as a “reasonable indication that the check may be uncollectible.”8eCFR. 12 CFR Part 229 – Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks (Regulation CC) If the paying bank does reject the item, your bank will reverse the deposit and may charge a returned-item fee, commonly $10 to $19 for domestic checks.
Getting a Replacement Check
Because the bank has no duty to pay a stale check, the obligation to pay still sits with whoever wrote it. To ask for a new one, contact the issuer with the original check number, date, and dollar amount so they can confirm the payment was never taken out of their account.
Return the original marked “VOID” when you can. Handing back the old document shows you aren’t attempting to collect twice, and once the issuer verifies the check was never cashed they can write a new one with a current date, which restarts the six-month window. Some businesses charge a small administrative fee for a reissue; no uniform legal cap applies.
Your Legal Right to the Money After Six Months
A check going stale is not the same as losing your right to the money. The UCC sets separate deadlines for actually suing to enforce payment:
- Personal and business checks: three years after the check is dishonored, or 10 years after the date of the check, whichever comes first.9Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 3-118 – Statute of Limitations
- Cashier’s checks, certified checks, and traveler’s checks: three years after you demand payment from the issuing bank.9Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 3-118 – Statute of Limitations
Inside those windows, the underlying debt remains legally enforceable. If a check writer refuses to issue a replacement, you can pursue the amount through small claims court or other legal channels.
Unclaimed Funds and Escheatment
When a check sits uncashed long enough, the money enters a process called escheatment. The issuer or the bank holding the funds turns them over to the state’s unclaimed property division. Dormancy periods vary; most states use three or five years, and at least one applies a period as short as two years for certain check types. After the dormancy period, the holder files an annual report and sends the money to the state.
You can search for the funds through your state’s unclaimed property office, and if you’ve lived in more than one state, check each.10USAGov. How to Find Unclaimed Money From the Government Expect to provide identification and something tying you to the original transaction. In most states there is no deadline for filing a claim once the money has been turned over, so the funds are recoverable years, or even decades, later.