What Does Stale-Dated Mean? Six-Month Rule and Exceptions

A stale-dated check is one that has sat uncashed long enough that the bank is no longer required to pay it. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, that point arrives six months after the date written on the check for ordinary personal and business checks. The check itself may be dead, but the debt behind it usually is not, which is why the practical answer for anyone holding or writing one is almost always to contact the other party and arrange a replacement rather than try to push the old check through.

The Six-Month Rule

UCC 4-404 says a bank has no obligation to pay a check, other than a certified check, that is presented more than six months after its date.¹ The clock runs from the date printed on the front of the check, not the date you received it or deposited it.

Two things the rule does not say are worth pinning down. It does not void the check automatically at six months; it only lifts the bank’s duty to pay. And it does not create a shorter window just because the check has words like “void after 90 days” printed on it.

“Void After 90 Days” Language

Many business and some government checks carry printed language such as “void after 90 days” or “void after 180 days” near the signature line. That language comes from the issuer, not from the UCC, which recognizes only the six-month threshold.¹

Banks treat the printed warning as a flag anyway. A teller or an automated system that sees “void after 90 days” on a four-month-old check may reject it even though the UCC would still allow payment. If you are holding a check whose printed window has passed, ask the issuer for a replacement rather than guessing how the bank will react.

Can the Bank Pay It Anyway

Yes. The same UCC section that releases the bank from the obligation to pay also lets it charge the account for a good-faith payment on a stale check.¹ That means money can still leave the writer’s account months after they assumed the check was dead.

Many banks set internal cutoffs tighter than six months, auto-rejecting or routing older items for manual review. A rejected check usually comes back to the depositor’s bank with a notation about why. The practical takeaway is the same for both parties: don’t treat a stale check as resolved. The writer could see the account debited; the recipient could see the deposit reversed days later.

Checks That Follow Different Rules

A few common payment types do not run on the standard six-month clock.

U.S. Treasury Checks

Federal checks, including paper tax refunds and Social Security payments, are valid for one year from the date of issuance, after which the check is canceled and funds return to the issuing agency.² Treasury checks are printed with “VOID AFTER ONE YEAR” above the disbursing officer’s signature.³ If you find an expired one, contact the federal agency that issued it. The government’s underlying obligation does not vanish with the check.

State and Local Government Checks

State and local checks carry their own printed expiration dates, which vary. Some expire in as little as 60 or 90 days; others run closer to a year. Call the issuing agency to confirm whether the check is still good or needs reissuing.

Certified Checks and Cashier’s Checks

UCC 4-404 explicitly excludes certified checks from the six-month rule.¹ Cashier’s checks and teller’s checks also operate differently because the bank itself is the obligor. If one is lost or sits uncashed for a long stretch, UCC 3-312 lets the remitter or payee file a declaration of loss; the claim becomes enforceable 90 days after the check’s date, or 90 days after acceptance for a certified check, provided no one else has cashed it.⁴

Money Orders

Money orders follow the issuer’s rules, not the UCC. U.S. Postal Service money orders never expire and do not lose value.⁵ MoneyGram money orders also do not technically expire, but after one year a monthly service charge starts eating into the value; the fee is printed on the back.⁶ Western Union likewise deducts an administration charge from transfers not picked up within a year where law allows. An old private money order is worth cashing promptly.

If You Are Holding a Stale Check

Start with the issuer. Contact the person or company that wrote the check, explain that it was never deposited, and ask for a replacement with a current date. Offer to return or destroy the original so no one can accidentally deposit both.

Depositing a stale check without asking first is risky. If the paying bank rejects it, your bank may charge a returned-item fee. Even an initial credit can be clawed back days later when the paying bank flags the check as stale.

The debt itself usually outlasts the check. In most states, the statute of limitations for enforcing a debt based on a written instrument runs somewhere between three and six years.⁷ If the issuer refuses to replace a significant check, small claims court is an option, with filing fees that vary by jurisdiction.

If You Wrote a Check That Was Never Cashed

An outstanding check is an open liability. The money could still leave your account without warning if the bank decides to pay in good faith past six months. A few steps keep it from catching you off guard:

Reconcile your statements against your check register regularly so you spot anything that has been outstanding for more than a few weeks.
Contact the payee. They may have lost the check or forgotten it. Offer a replacement.
Place a stop payment order if you cannot reach the payee or want certainty that the old check will not clear.
Keep the funds in the account. The check is stale, but you still owe the money and the bank may still pay.¹

A stop payment order is effective for six months under UCC 4-403. A verbal order lapses after 14 calendar days unless you confirm it in writing within that window, and you can renew in six-month increments as long as the current order is still active.⁸ Banks typically charge a fee per order, often lower through an online portal than in person. A stop payment does not erase the debt. It only kills that specific check, and the payee can demand a new one.

Uncashed Payroll Checks

Payroll checks sit in their own category. An uncashed paycheck does not relieve the employer of the duty to pay the employee. If payday has passed and wages were never actually received, the employee can contact the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division or the equivalent state agency to recover the wages owed.⁹ Payroll checks also face shorter dormancy periods under state unclaimed-property laws, often one to two years, before the employer has to turn the funds over to the state.

When the Money Goes to the State

If a check stays uncashed long enough and the issuer cannot locate the payee, the funds do not disappear. Every state has an unclaimed-property law that requires businesses and banks to turn dormant funds over to the state through a process called escheatment. Dormancy periods for uncashed checks typically run from one to five years, depending on the state and the type of check. Payroll is on the short end; personal and business checks tend to run longer.

Before remitting the money, the holder has to make a good-faith attempt to find the owner. That usually means a written notice to the payee’s last known address, commonly required at least 60 days before the funds are reported and generally applied only to amounts above a minimum threshold (often $50). The notice tells the payee that unclaimed money exists and how to respond before it goes to the state.

Once the funds reach the state, the original check is no longer good. The payee can still get the money, but through the state’s unclaimed-property program rather than the original issuer. Every state runs a searchable database for unclaimed property, and MissingMoney.com aggregates records from most participating states. If you suspect an old check was escheated, that is where to look, and you will need to provide proof of identity to file a claim.

1
LII / Legal Information Institute. UCC 4-404 – Bank Not Obliged to Pay Check More Than Six Months Old
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 3328 – Paying Checks and Drafts
3
Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Chapter 7000 Cancellations, Deposits, Reclamations, and Claims for Checks Drawn on the US Treasury
4
LII / Legal Information Institute. UCC 3-312 – Lost, Destroyed, or Stolen Cashier’s Check, Teller’s Check, or Certified Check
5
USPS. Money Orders
6
MoneyGram. Help for MoneyGram Money Orders
7
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Can Debt Collectors Collect a Debt That’s Several Years Old?
8
LII / Legal Information Institute. UCC 4-403 – Customer’s Right to Stop Payment; Burden of Proof of Loss
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Last Paycheck