How old a cheque can i cash

Legally, banks are only required to honor checks for six months. On the flip side, a several-months-old personal check may fall off the issuer's radar. Practically all checking accounts have zero interest, meaning most people only keep just enough in the account to pay the bills. As a result, when the forgotten check resurfaces without warning, there may not be enough funds in the account to cover it.

This is why it is always best to contact the issuer before attempting to cash a stale check. Making the call may be awkward, but accidentally slapping your grandma with a hefty overdraft fee is worse. Ask for a new check if the old one is past the six-month mark. Do personal checks expire more quickly than company-printed checks?

Actually, there is no technical difference between these two types of checks, but the risk of triggering fees is slightly higher with personal checks, as companies are less likely to carry bare-bones balances. Some checks come printed with text stating that a check becomes void after 90 days.

This can be safely disregarded as a ploy to nudge people not to hold a check for too long. The six-month rule applies regardless of what is printed on the check.

Checks issued by the U. Treasury are good for one year. Make sure to cash your federal tax refund check no later than a year to the date it was issued. You can request a new check from state and federal agencies. If you lose your state tax refund or a local government check, you'll have to contact the agency that sent it to you.

State and local governments may have their own expiration dates. A money order issuer may charge fees on the order if enough time passes. Back to blog. How long is a cheque valid for? Posted on 3rd November at The validity of Personal cheques is normally six months from the date of issue. Once this date has passed the cheque would normally be rejected by the bank. However, there is no cheque expiry date for banks.

Therefore a cheque issued by a bank is still valid after 6 months so it does not expire after this date. This drastically reduces the amount of time it takes a cheque to clear. So make sure you have enough money in your account to cover any cheques you write, or they may bounce.

In the vast majority of cases, a digital bank transfer is faster, safer, and more convenient than using a cheque. However, there are some instances where you might have no choice but to use a cheque. The most common is when working with a client, a customer, a supplier or a tradesperson who, for whatever reason, prefers to work with cheques. So if you must work with cheques, the best thing you can do to avoid any issues is to set a routine. If not, then you can simply ignore your appointment!

We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity , this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. Founded in , Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. All of our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts , who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy.

Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens.

We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.

Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy.

You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.