if its a certain then they would be out, have you seen what a leaking battery can do to your contacts???
if you use them regular then you will be aware when the batts are dead and change them, but just stored then they could leak for a month or two then its an expensive repair or (as in most cases) new alarms.
as an aside and to demonstrate the destructive capabilities of a leaking battery, once when we went away on holiday my wife left her tri color gold necklace on an upstairs windowsill and there was a battery nearby that had been taken from a dead remote,when we got back the necklace was spotted and she went to put it in her jewelry box, the batt had leaked a clear fluid and it pooled beneath the necklace, as she tried to pick it up the gold just turned to dust, (fortunately it was covered lol) if it can de-nature a gold necklace what do you think it will do to your delicate alarm innards?