In California, a personal or business check is good for six months from the date written on its face. After that, your bank can refuse to cash it. Other kinds of checks follow their own clocks: cashier’s checks are treated as abandoned after three years, U.S. Treasury checks expire after one year, and USPS money orders never expire at all. So the honest answer to how long a check is good for in California depends on what kind of check you are holding.
The Six-Month Rule for Personal and Business Checks
California Commercial Code Section 4404 sets the baseline. A bank has no legal obligation to pay a check, other than a certified check, that is presented more than six months after the date on its face.1California Legislative Information. California Code Commercial Code 4404 The 180-day clock runs from the date the writer filled in, not the day you received the check or first tried to deposit it.
Banks do keep some discretion. A bank can still choose to pay a stale check and debit the writer’s account, as long as it acts in good faith, meaning it has no reason to think the writer wanted the payment stopped. Cashing a seven-month-old check is not impossible. It is just not something the bank has to do, and most will not.
There is a real downside to trying anyway. If your bank accepts the deposit and the check later bounces, you can be charged a returned-item fee. At major banks these fees generally run between $10 and $19, enough to wipe out a small check. Before depositing anything past the six-month mark, contact the person or business that wrote it and ask for a fresh one.
What “Void After 90 Days” Really Means
Plenty of business and payroll checks carry a printed line like “Void after 90 days” or “Void after 180 days.” That language is the issuer’s own accounting policy. It is not California law, and a bank is not legally required to enforce it.
Under Section 4404, the six-month window still controls whether a bank must pay.1California Legislative Information. California Code Commercial Code 4404 A check stamped “void after 90 days” is still technically negotiable at the bank’s discretion for the full 180 days. In practice, many banks treat the printed void date as a red flag and refuse the check once it passes. The safe move is simple: cash the check before whatever date is printed on it.
Cashier’s Checks
Cashier’s checks work differently because the bank itself guarantees them. They do not go stale after six months. The deadline that matters is California’s three-year unclaimed property rule. If a cashier’s check sits uncashed for three years and the owner has had no contact with the issuing bank, the funds are treated as abandoned.2California State Controller’s Office. Consumer Information The bank then turns the money over to the California State Controller’s Office.3California State Controller’s Office. About Unclaimed Property
Before that transfer, the Controller’s Office sends a notice to owners with assets valued at $50 or more.2California State Controller’s Office. Consumer Information Miss that notice and the money is not lost. You can still search for it through the Controller’s unclaimed property database and file a claim, though the process involves paperwork and time.
U.S. Treasury Checks
Federal tax refunds, Social Security payments, and other checks drawn on the U.S. Treasury follow federal rules. A Treasury check is no longer valid if it has not been cashed within 12 months of the issue date.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 3328 Most print a “Void After 1 Year” notice on the face.
Missing that deadline does not forfeit the money. The funds are pulled back into the Treasury.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 3328 To get a replacement, contact the federal agency that issued the check. That means the IRS for tax refunds and the Social Security Administration for Social Security payments. Treasury’s check verification system does not even list checks older than 13 months, so banks cannot verify them for cashing.5United States Government. Treasury Check Verification System – TCVS
Money Orders
Money orders are the most forgiving, but the rules depend on who issued them.
Domestic USPS money orders never expire and never lose value. The Postal Service pays them “regardless of the time passed since their issue,” at the full face amount.6USPS. Domestic Mail Manual S020 Money Orders and Other Services A USPS money order found in a drawer years later is still worth every dollar printed on it.
Private issuers are less generous. Western Union money orders technically do not expire, but one to three years after the purchase date, depending on the state where it was bought, Western Union begins deducting a non-refundable service charge from the principal.7Western Union. Money Orders Purchase and Cash at a Western Union Near You Given enough time, those fees can consume the entire value. MoneyGram and other private issuers follow similar patterns. Cash any non-USPS money order promptly.
What to Do With an Old Check
If you find a check past the six-month mark, do not just deposit it and hope. Contact the person or business that wrote it and ask for a replacement. They will typically verify the original was never cashed, ask you to return the old check or sign a short statement, and issue a fresh one. Expect them to place a stop payment on the original, which protects everyone if the old check surfaces later.
For a stale cashier’s check, go straight to the issuing bank. If the check is less than three years old, the bank can reissue it. If it has already been escheated, you file a claim through the State Controller’s unclaimed property program.2California State Controller’s Office. Consumer Information
For an expired Treasury check, request reissuance from the federal agency that sent it. Anything older than 13 months will not clear through a bank, so there is no workaround.5United States Government. Treasury Check Verification System – TCVS
The Debt Behind the Check Does Not Vanish
A stale check means the bank can refuse it. It does not erase the underlying debt. If someone owed you wages, a refund, or a contract payment, they still owe you that money, and California Commercial Code Section 3118 sets outer time limits for pursuing payment through the courts.8California Legislative Information. California Code Commercial Code 3118 The check itself has one enforcement clock; the debt behind it can have its own, sometimes longer. If an issuer refuses to reissue a stale check, that distinction can matter.
A Year-End Tax Note
One trap catches people at the end of the year. For federal tax purposes, an uncashed check can still count as income in the year you received it, not the year you deposit it. The IRS applies a doctrine called constructive receipt: income counts as yours the moment it is made available without substantial restrictions, whether or not you actually take the money.9IRS. Compensation – Introduction and Background
If your employer hands you a paycheck on December 30 and you leave it in a drawer until February, the IRS still treats that as December income. As the agency has put it, “a taxpayer may not deliberately turn his back upon income and thereby select the year for which he will report it.”9IRS. Compensation – Introduction and Background Holding a late-December check into the new year can create a mismatch between your records and the W-2 or 1099 the payer files. Deposit year-end checks before the year ends.