Is it legal to preprint a check with void after 30 days?

Answer 1

Yes. Pre-printing a check with the notation "Void after 30 days" is permitted by law. However, most banks will pay the check after the 30 days have expired. The reason is that banks are under no legal obligation to reject a check merely because the drafter wrote "void after [#] days" on the check. Restrictive legends or limitations such as "void after 90 days" or "not to exceed $500" have no legal effect.

Once a check has been outstanding for more than six months it is considered "stale." Contrary to common belief, this too does not mean a bank will reject the check. It merely removes the legal obligation upon which the bank owed to its customer to pay a valid check. After that time, a bank may pay the check, provided payment is made "in good faith."

But let's say your bank rejects the check. You ask the person who originally wrote the check to reissue it. That person refuses because it's after the 30 days. Now a separate legal issue arises: Must the original drafter of the check, who wrote "void after 90 days," reissue another check which is after the 90 day period? In other words, is the underlying debt extinguished?

In most circumstances, a court would not favorably treat the drafter of the check who is confiscating or relinquishing the money of the other person without compensation. That's called forfeiture and the law abhors forfeitures.

Let's say your employer drafted a payroll check and issued it with the notation "Void After 90 Days." After the 90-day period lapses, you ask your employer to reissue another check but they refuse. Would a court allow an employer to withhold payroll to its employee merely because the employee was not diligent in depositing a payroll check? Probably not, but since there is little to no case law on point, it is anyone's guess how a court might rule. Until such a case reaches a reviewing court level, you'll have to stick to basic principles of law.