How Long Is a Check Good For in Florida: Six-Month Rule and Exceptions

In Florida, a personal or business check is good for six months from the date written on its face. After that, your bank has no obligation to pay it, though it may still choose to. Certified checks, cashier’s checks, U.S. Treasury checks, and money orders each follow their own timelines, so how long a check is good for in Florida depends on what kind of check you’re holding.¹

The Six-Month Rule for Personal and Business Checks

Florida Statute 674.404 sets the baseline. A bank doesn’t have to pay an uncertified check presented more than six months after the date on its face. The six-month clock runs from the date printed on the check, not the day you received it or tried to deposit it.¹

Six months is a cutoff, not a self-destruct. After that point, the bank’s duty to pay ends and its discretion begins. The bank can still pay the check in good faith and charge it to the writer’s account, and the statute protects the bank from liability for doing so. Many banks will call the account holder first before paying a check that’s noticeably old. Others simply refuse it.¹

So the honest answer is: expect six months, hope for nothing more, and don’t count on predicting what any individual bank will do with a stale check that lands on its desk.

What to Do If a Check Has Gone Stale

In banking terms, a check past the six-month window is called “stale.” The paper instrument may have lost its force, but the underlying debt hasn’t. If someone wrote you a $2,000 check for work you completed and the check sat in a drawer for seven months, you’re still owed $2,000. You’ve just lost the easy way of collecting it.

The simplest fix is to ask the person who wrote the check to issue a replacement or pay another way. Most will cooperate once they realize the original never cleared. If the writer refuses and the debt is legitimate, you can pursue the claim in court based on the original obligation, not the stale check itself.

If you’re on the other side, meaning you wrote a check that was never cashed, don’t assume the bank will reject it automatically. Some banks process older checks without close review, which can surprise the account holder months later. A written stop payment order is the safest way to make sure a forgotten check can’t suddenly clear.

Certified Checks, Cashier’s Checks, and Money Orders

The six-month rule applies to checks drawn on a customer’s checking account. Certified checks are explicitly carved out of that rule, so the bank remains obligated to honor them beyond six months.¹

Cashier’s checks and teller’s checks sit on different ground. The statute ties the six-month rule to a bank’s obligation to a customer who has a checking account, but a cashier’s check is the bank’s own promise to pay, not an instruction to draw from a customer’s account. The six-month rule doesn’t neatly apply. Banks set their own internal policies for when they’ll stop honoring older cashier’s checks, and those windows vary.

Losing a cashier’s check is a hassle. The bank will usually require you to purchase an indemnity bond for the full face amount, which acts as insurance in case the original surfaces and gets cashed. Even after you post the bond, expect a waiting period of 30 to 90 days before the bank issues a replacement.²

Money Orders

U.S. Postal Service money orders never expire and don’t accumulate fees for sitting unused, so there’s no deadline pressure on those.³ Money orders from private issuers like Western Union or MoneyGram may follow different rules, including service fees that can eat into the value over time. If you’re holding one more than a year old, read the terms on the back.

U.S. Treasury and Government Checks

Federal Treasury checks, including tax refund checks and certain benefit payments, must be cashed within one year of the issue date. That deadline comes from federal law, not Florida’s statutes. The checks are printed with “VOID AFTER ONE YEAR” above the signature line.⁴

Once that year passes, Treasury cancels the check and returns the funds to the federal agency that issued it. You can still claim the money, but you’ll need to contact that agency directly and request reissuance rather than trying to deposit the expired check.⁵

Reasons a Check Can Fail Before Six Months

Age isn’t the only thing that stops a check. Several problems can prevent payment long before the six-month mark.

Stop Payment Orders

Under Florida law, an account holder can stop payment on any check by submitting a written order to the bank. The order has to describe the check clearly enough for the bank to identify it, and the bank needs a reasonable window to act before the check hits processing. A stop payment order lasts six months and can be renewed in additional six-month stretches, as long as the renewal is filed before the current order expires.⁶

Florida’s statute requires stop payment orders to be in writing. Some states allow a 14-day oral stop payment; Florida’s version doesn’t include that option.⁶

Other Reasons Banks Refuse Payment

Insufficient funds in the account, with no overdraft agreement in place.
Signature missing, mismatched against the bank’s records, or appearing fraudulent.
Alterations to the dollar amount, payee, or other material details after the check was written.
Post-dated checks presented too early, where the writer gave the bank advance notice. That notice follows the same rules as stop payment orders and lasts six months.⁷

How Long You Can Sue on an Unpaid Check

Florida’s statute of limitations for enforcing a check isn’t in the check-specific statutes. Florida Statute 673.1181 points you to Chapter 95, which governs limitation periods for civil actions.⁸

Under Chapter 95, actions on written instruments generally carry a five-year limitations period. A check is a written instrument, so that five-year window typically applies. The clock starts when the check is dishonored, meaning bounced or refused by the bank, not from the date printed on the check. If you’re sitting on a dishonored check from several years ago, don’t wait to look at your options.

Florida also provides a separate demand-and-service-charge process for bounced checks under Statute 832.07, including the possibility of triple damages and even criminal referral if the writer ignores the demand. That’s a collection remedy, not an expiration rule, but it’s worth knowing exists if you’re holding a check that bounced for insufficient funds.⁹

When Uncashed Check Funds Become State Property

If a check goes uncashed long enough, the money doesn’t sit in the writer’s account forever. Florida’s Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act requires holders of abandoned funds to turn them over to the state after a dormancy period. For most types of checks, that period is five years from the date the check became payable.¹⁰

Once funds are escheated, the original payee can still recover them. Florida’s Department of Financial Services maintains a free search tool at fltreasurehunt.gov where you can look up unclaimed property by name. Filing a claim costs nothing, and the state never charges a fee for returning your money. Be wary of third-party “finders” who offer to locate your property for a percentage. You can run the same search yourself.¹¹

The practical lesson for anyone holding a check in Florida: deposit it promptly. Within a few weeks is ideal. The longer a check sits, the more likely the writer’s balance changes, a stop payment gets placed, or the instrument crosses a threshold that makes collection harder.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 674.404 – Bank Not Obliged to Pay Check More Than 6 Months Old
2
HelpWithMyBank.gov. Why Do I Need an Indemnity Bond to Replace a Lost Cashier’s Check?
3
United States Postal Service. Money Orders
4
Treasury Financial Experience. Cancellations, Deposits, Reclamations, and Claims for Checks Drawn on the U.S. Treasury – Section: 7025 Limited Payability Cancellation
5
GovInfo. Public Law 100-86 – Competitive Equality Banking Act – Time Limit on Treasury Checks
6
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 674.403 – Customer’s Right to Stop Payment; Burden of Proof of Loss
7
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 674.401 – When Bank May Charge Customer’s Account
8
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 673.1181 – Statute of Limitations
9
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 832.07 – Prima Facie Evidence of Intent; Worthless Checks
10
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 717.102 – Intangible Property Held by Holders Other Than Holders of Traveler’s Checks and Money Orders
11
Florida Department of Financial Services. Florida’s Unclaimed Property