The statute of limitations on forgery in California is four years from the date the crime was discovered for felony forgery, and one year from the date of the offense for misdemeanor forgery. Those windows come from Penal Code sections 801.5, 802, and 803, and the deadline in any specific case depends on how the charge is classified, when the fraud was first noticed, and whether the suspect spent time outside California.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 801.5 – Time of Commencing Criminal Actions2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 802 – Misdemeanor Statute of Limitations
Misdemeanor or Felony: Which Deadline Applies
Forgery charges fall into two timing buckets, and the split depends on how the case is charged.
Misdemeanor forgery carries the shorter window. Under Penal Code section 802, prosecutors have one year from the date of the offense to file.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 802 – Misdemeanor Statute of Limitations A forged $400 check written on March 1 has to be charged by the following March 1.
Felony forgery gets four years, and the clock starts at discovery rather than at the act. Penal Code section 801.5 sets the four-year period and ties it to discovery of the offense, with section 803(c) placing forgery on the list of fraud-type crimes that qualify for the discovery rule.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 801.5 – Time of Commencing Criminal Actions3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 803 – Time of Commencing Criminal Actions
Which bucket a case lands in usually turns on the dollar amount and the type of document. Under Penal Code section 473(b), forgery of a check, money order, traveler’s check, or similar financial instrument worth $950 or less is a straight misdemeanor, unless the defendant has certain serious priors or is also convicted of identity theft in the same case.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 473 – Forgery Penalties Above $950, or where the forged item is something other than a financial instrument (a deed, a will, a court document, a power of attorney), the offense is a wobbler and prosecutors can file it as either a misdemeanor or a felony. The classification they choose dictates the deadline.
How the Discovery Rule Works
The discovery rule is the piece that trips people up, and it’s the piece that matters most on older cases.
For felony forgery, the four-year window begins when the crime is discovered, or four years after the forgery was completed, whichever gives prosecutors more time.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 801.5 – Time of Commencing Criminal Actions The rule exists because forgery often hides itself. A forged deed can sit on record for years before the real owner tries to refinance and spots the problem.
Take that deed example. Someone forges a signature in January 2025 and transfers title to themselves. The legitimate owner notices nothing until January 2027, when a refinance application turns up the switch. The four-year criminal clock starts in January 2027, and prosecutors have until January 2031 to file. Without the discovery rule, the deadline would have fallen in January 2029, with two years already burned off before anyone knew.
Discovery is not purely subjective. Courts ask when the crime was actually found or when a reasonably diligent person would have found it. A victim who leaves monthly bank statements unopened for years cannot necessarily argue that discovery happened only when they finally looked. The question is ordinary diligence, not personal preference.
When the Clock Pauses
Even once the limitation period starts running, it can stop. Penal Code section 803(d) tolls the statute for any time the defendant spends outside California, capped at three years.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 803 – Time of Commencing Criminal Actions
In practice: a defendant commits felony forgery, the victim discovers it right away, and the four-year clock starts. One year in, the defendant moves to Nevada for two years, then returns. Those two Nevada years don’t count, so the deadline effectively shifts from four years after discovery to six. The three-year cap means that even a decade of absence tolls the statute by only three years.
The Civil Deadline Runs Separately
If you’re the victim rather than the accused, there is a second clock. Under California Code of Civil Procedure section 338(d), you have three years from the date you discovered the fraud to file a civil suit for your losses.5California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 338 – Actions to Be Commenced Within Three Years
The civil discovery rule mirrors the criminal one, but the window is shorter: three years instead of four. A police report does not preserve the civil deadline, and waiting to see whether prosecutors file charges can cost you the right to sue. The two tracks run independently and have to be managed independently.
What Happens When the Deadline Passes
Once the criminal filing window closes, the case is over. A defendant can raise the expired statute as a defense, and the court has to dismiss. Strength of evidence doesn’t matter at that point. A confession, security video, and the forged documents themselves can’t revive a case that was filed late.
For victims, an expired criminal deadline doesn’t automatically close the civil door. Because CCP 338(d) runs on its own schedule, the civil window can still be open after the criminal one has shut. Anyone who suspects they’ve been forged against should treat both clocks as live from the moment they notice something wrong.