It’s not usually accurate to say that checks expire since they are financial instruments that don’t have a strict end date. Most banks and banking executives agree that checks will become stale after a certain point, usually six months, but this isn’t usually quite the same as an expiration. Stale checks might be refused by the cashing institution, but they also might not; this is largely a question of discretion. There are also many questions surrounding blank checks that are old, particularly if they include things like customer addresses or phone numbers that are no longer valid. As a general rule, checks remain valid as long as the account to which they are linked is open. When it’s not, the checks are invalid — but not technically expired. People who are worried about stale or old checks passing through their accounts are usually advised to keep a close watch on their transactions and contact their bank for guidance.
Understanding Financial Staleness
Most financial institutions around the world consider checks that haven’t been cashed or deposited within six months of their writing to be “stale.” This is usually a means of consumer protection. When people write checks, they usually assume that the money will be withdrawn by the recipient immediately. If it isn’t, the writer may forget about it and the account balance may dip too low, in which case the check would bounce — or even if it doesn’t bounce, it could surprise the account holder and negatively impact his budgeting and finance.
The decision of whether to honor a stale personal check is usually a matter of discretion for banks. Sometimes, particularly if one or both parties involved has been a long-time customer, cashing is no problem, but in others the check can be held for a “waiting period” or refused outright. A waiting period is usually a chance for the bank to contact the writer’s financial institution and possibly also the writer, and then decide what to do.
Business checks or checks written on behalf of corporations typically grow stale as a matter of course, and many even come printed with “invalid after” dates near the signature line. Sometimes the validity period is as long as six months, but it can be much shorter; 60 days is a common time frame, particularly for larger checks like payroll contributions and major reimbursements. In most cases this is for the sake of streamlining the business’ accounting procedures.
Checks That Are Merely Old
To say that blank checks expire is also inaccurate. If a person has a blank check on an account that is still open, it is still valid regardless of how old it is or whether it includes outdated personal information like address. However, anyone with old checks should be sure that the account itself is still open. It’s also important to be sure that the bank information, like bank name and account routing information, has not changed. If this sort of identifying data is different, the check may be invalid.
Importance of Tracking Accounts
Bank customers who have written checks that have not been cashed have several options to protect themselves. Keeping close tabs on their account and checks that have been written will prevent them from spending money that is allocated elsewhere, even if the recipients haven’t taken withdrawal action. It may be helpful to call people to whom checks were written to find out why they weren’t cashed. Sometimes people just forget, or the check may have gotten lost, in which case a new one can be written.
Stop Payment Orders
If the recipients can’t be contacted, account holders may wish to put what is known as a “stop payment” order on any outstanding checks. Stop payments act essentials as freezes that invalidate the checks, which is really useful in cases where people think checks have been lost and are in danger of being found or altered by people other than the intended recipients. Anyone who tries to cash a stopped check will be refused. It should be noted that many banks charge a fee for this service.