Do Paychecks Expire?
The paper check can expire, but the wages do not. A bank does not have to pay an ordinary check presented more than six months after its date, though it may. Your employer still owes you the money and can reissue the check. If the wages go unclaimed, usually for a year or more, they generally move to your state’s unclaimed property program, where you can claim them for free.
So two different clocks are running. One decides whether a bank will honor that piece of paper. The other decides who is holding your money. Mixing them up is why people assume an old paycheck is worthless.
What happens to an uncashed paycheck, by age
| Age of the check | What the bank does | Where the money is | What you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 6 months | Normally pays it, unless the check prints a shorter limit | Employer’s account | Deposit it |
| Over 6 months | May refuse or may pay; its choice | Employer’s account | Ask for a replacement before depositing |
| About 1 year | Likely refuses | Employer, and in many states now reportable as unclaimed | Ask the employer, then search the state program |
| Past the state’s period | Likely refuses | State unclaimed property program, once reported | File a claim with the state |
The six-month rule is about the bank, not your wages
The rule comes from section 4-404 of the Uniform Commercial Code: a bank “is under no obligation” to pay a non-certified check “presented more than six months after its date”, but it may still pay one in good faith and charge the account. The federal banking regulator’s consumer site says the same thing, describing a stale-dated check as one presented 180 days or more after issue, which a bank can return unpaid.
Read that closely and two things follow. The rule never says the check becomes void at six months, which is why an old check sometimes clears. And it says nothing about what your employer owes you. It settles the relationship between the bank and its customer, not between you and the company that hired you.
Some payroll checks print a shorter limit, such as “void after 90 days”. Take that seriously and ask for a new check rather than testing it. If a deposit is returned, your own bank may charge you a fee for it.
How to get the money from an old paycheck
- Find the check details. The date, amount and check number are on the check, and the matching pay stub helps if you have it.
- Contact payroll or HR and ask for a reissue. Put it in writing. Many employers will stop payment on the old check first, so do not deposit it after you have asked for a new one.
- If the company says it sent the money to the state, search there. Use the unclaimed property programs for the states where you lived and worked. MissingMoney, which is run with the state administrators’ association, searches participating states at once.
- If the employer refuses or will not answer, complain to your state labor department. Do not sit on it. Wage claim deadlines vary by state, and the federal limit for minimum wage and overtime claims is two years, or three if the violation was willful.
When unclaimed wages go to the state
Each state sets a dormancy period: how long property can sit untouched before the holder must report it. Wages tend to have a short one, so this is not a distant event. These are three examples, not a survey.
| State | Dormancy period for wages | Who says so |
|---|---|---|
| California | 1 year | State Controller’s Office |
| Texas | 1 year | Texas Comptroller |
| New York | 3 years for private business entities | Office of the State Comptroller |
The state your wages go to is normally the one tied to your last known address on the employer’s records, which is not always where you live now. If you have moved, search every state you have lived or worked in. Searching and claiming through the official program is free. Finders who charge a percentage are optional.
The tax catch: not cashing it does not delay the tax
An uncashed paycheck is still income, generally for the year it was made available to you. IRS Publication 538 says income is constructively received when it is credited to you or “made available to you without restriction”, and warns that you cannot hold checks to postpone tax. So those wages should already be on your W-2 for the year of the check, with the withholding already taken out. A replacement issued later is the same wages, so do not report it twice. If a new W-2 or a correction looks wrong, ask payroll to explain it.
Three cases that work differently
- Federal Treasury checks. These have their own hard limit. Under 31 CFR 240.5, Treasury need not pay a check not negotiated within 12 months, and it cancels checks outstanding for more than 12 months after issue. Contact the agency that issued it.
- Direct deposit. There is no paper to go stale. If a deposit went to a closed account it should come back to the employer, which then still owes you. See why a paycheck hasn’t deposited.
- Your last check from a job. The timing of a final check is a separate question from whether it expires, and it is set by state law. See when you get your final paycheck.
Check what the check should have been
If you are chasing an old check, confirm the amount first. Our take-home pay calculator gives an estimate of the net pay for a salary, which you can compare with the stub.
Sources
- Uniform Commercial Code, section 4-404, Bank not obliged to pay check more than six months old (Cornell Legal Information Institute).
- Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, HelpWithMyBank.gov, glossary entry for stale-dated check.
- Internal Revenue Service, Publication 538, Accounting Periods and Methods — constructive receipt, and holding checks to postpone tax.
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 31 CFR 240.5, limitations on payment of Treasury checks.
- California State Controller’s Office, unclaimed property reporting FAQ; Texas Comptroller, dormancy periods; New York State Comptroller, unclaimed property relating to business entities.
- National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, is it really free to search? and search for your unclaimed property.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, complaints and the investigation process.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Sources were checked on 4 November 2026. The state dormancy periods were taken from excerpts of the agency pages above, because those pages did not open directly for us, so confirm your state’s current rule with its program. States adopt the UCC with their own variations.