 <p>Use the <a href="http://php.net/datetime" rel="nofollow">DateTime</a> classes, They are directly comparable and very useful.</p> <pre><code>$test_date= DateTime::createFromFormat('d/m/y', "08/02/2012"); $todays_date = new DateTime(); if($test_date &lt; $todays_date){ echo "Past"; } else { echo "Future"; } </code></pre> <p><a href="http://3v4l.org/kZnCX" rel="nofollow">See it working</a>.</p>