Temple reservations: the 300 limit and the 2-year expiry

Reservations, limits and expiry

Reserved names stall more often than you'd think: cards get printed, set aside, and the reservation runs out. Here are FamilySearch's rules in plain words, each with a link to where FamilySearch says it.

Last checked 6 October 2026. FamilySearch sets and changes these rules; their Help Center is the final word.

You can hold up to 300 rows of reservations.

Each row on your reservation list counts once, even when it covers several ordinances for one person. A sealing to spouse is its own row. Names you've shared with the temple don't count toward the limit; names shared with a family group do.

Source: FamilySearch Help Center: reservation limit

Reservations expire two years after you reserve them.

If you complete at least one of the ordinances you reserved for a person before then, that person's reservation gets one more year.

Source: FamilySearch blog: expiration of ordinance reservations

When a reservation expires, it's shared with the temple.

With limited exceptions, expired reservations go to the temple's list and become available to other relatives through Family Tree and Ordinances Ready. FamilySearch sends a notice first.

Source: FamilySearch blog: expiration of ordinance reservations

Names from Ordinances Ready have a shorter clock.

Ordinances you get through Ordinances Ready expire after 120 days.

Source: FamilySearch blog (updated January 2023)

The printed card doesn't expire, but the reservation does.

FamilySearch's advice: if you've had a family name card for more than 120 days and the ordinance isn't done, check Family Tree before you go, and reserve again if needed.

Source: FamilySearch Help Center: do family name cards expire?

Names you share with the temple don't expire from its list.

Once shared to the temple, a name stays available for any patron to complete.

Source: FamilySearch blog: reservation lists update (Nov 2021)

Keeping names from stalling

Put the expiry on the card. TempleKit prints “Expires: 5 Oct 2028” at the bottom-left of every card, so a stack in a drawer tells you which to take first. Your exact dates are under Reservations in FamilySearch.
Put your name and phone or email on the card. If cards are left in the temple's cabinet, the temple or someone from your stake can reach you.
Share what you can't finish. Sharing names with the temple before they expire keeps them moving and frees room on your list.
Bring family. Cards that say “your 3rd great-grandmother” are easier to hand to a cousin or a grandchild.

Make my cards Family name cards, explained

But the records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands; therefore a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the planets, and of the stars, as they were made known unto the fathers, have I kept even unto this day, and I shall endeavor to write some of these things upon this record, for the benefit of my posterity that shall come after me.

Abraham 1:31 What the scriptures and prophets teach about family history →

Questions

How long do I have to finish a reserved name?

Two years from the day you reserve it. If you finish at least one of that person's reserved ordinances before then, you get one more year.

What happens to my printed card when the reservation expires?

The paper doesn't expire, but the ordinance may have been shared and done by someone else. If a card is more than 120 days old, check Family Tree before you take it to the temple.

Do names I share with the temple count toward the 300?

No. Shared-with-temple names don't count. Names shared with a family group do.