Statute of Limitations Calculator, Filing Deadlines by State

A statute of limitations is a law enacted by a state legislature or the federal government that sets the maximum time period within which a legal proceeding can be initiated after the event giving rise to the claim. These filing deadlines exist across virtually every area of civil and criminal law, from personal injury and medical malpractice to breach of contract, wrongful death, and workers' compensation. Once the statutory period expires, the right to file suit is permanently extinguished regardless of the strength of the evidence or the severity of the harm. A court will dismiss any claim filed after the deadline if the defendant raises it as an affirmative defense.

Statutes of limitations serve a dual purpose: they protect defendants from the indefinite threat of litigation and they promote the resolution of disputes while evidence is still fresh, witnesses are available, and memories are reliable. The accrual date, the moment the statute begins running, is typically the date the injury occurred or the contract was breached. However, certain doctrines such as the discovery rule, tolling, and the continuing violation doctrine can shift or pause the start of the clock. A related but distinct concept is the Statute of Frauds, which requires certain types of contracts to be in writing to be enforceable. The Statute of Frauds does not set a filing deadline, but it can affect whether a breach of contract claim is viable in the first place.

Each state independently sets its own limitation periods, which is why the statute of limitations by state for the same type of claim can vary dramatically. A personal injury statute of limitations is two years in California but six years in Maine. Written contract claims range from three years in some states to fifteen years in Kentucky. Understanding both the applicable state and the correct legal classification for your claim is essential to preserving your right to sue. If you believe your filing deadline is approaching, you should also consider sending a demand letter generator notice to the opposing party, which can sometimes prompt a resolution before litigation becomes necessary.

Every statute of limitations analysis begins with identifying the accrual date, which is the date the legal claim comes into existence. For personal injury claims, the accrual date is the date of the accident or harmful event. For breach of contract claims, it is the date the breaching party failed to perform as agreed. For wrongful death claims, most states start the clock on the date of death rather than the date of the underlying injury. Property damage claims accrue on the date the damage occurs or is discovered.

The discovery rule delays the accrual date until the plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known about the injury. This doctrine is most frequently applied in medical malpractice cases, where a retained surgical instrument or misdiagnosis may not produce symptoms for months or years. It also applies in fraud cases, where the defendant intentionally concealed the wrongdoing, and in toxic exposure cases, where the causal connection between the exposure and the illness is not immediately apparent. Even with the discovery rule, a statute of repose sets an absolute outer time limit that runs from a specific event (such as product manufacture or building completion), regardless of when injury is discovered. For construction defect claims, statutes of repose typically run six to twelve years from project completion.

Tolling is the legal mechanism that pauses a statute of limitations clock that has already begun running. Common tolling events include the plaintiff being a minor (the clock starts when they reach the age of majority), the plaintiff being mentally incapacitated, the defendant fleeing the jurisdiction or concealing their identity, and the filing of a related bankruptcy proceeding that triggers an automatic stay. Equitable tolling pauses the statute of limitations when a plaintiff has been prevented from filing by extraordinary circumstances beyond their control, such as being actively misled by the defendant or being physically unable to access the courts. Courts apply equitable tolling sparingly, and the plaintiff must show they pursued their rights with reasonable diligence.

The continuing violation doctrine applies when a defendant engages in an ongoing pattern of unlawful conduct rather than a single discrete act. Under this doctrine, the statute of limitations does not begin running until the last act in the pattern occurs. It is most commonly invoked in employment discrimination, harassment, and workers' compensation retaliation cases. The defense of laches, while distinct from the statute of limitations, serves a similar purpose in equity cases by barring claims where the plaintiff unreasonably delayed filing and the delay prejudiced the defendant. If you need to formally assert a legal claim before your deadline expires, consider using a complaint letter template to structure your filing.

The breach of contract deadline depends on whether the agreement was written or oral, and the distinction carries significant consequences. Most states set the statute of limitations for written contracts between four and six years, while oral contracts typically have a shorter period of two to four years. The rationale for the difference is that written agreements provide clearer evidence of the parties' intent, reducing the risk of stale or fabricated claims. The Statute of Frauds adds another layer by requiring certain contracts (real estate transactions, agreements lasting more than one year, guarantees of another's debt) to be in writing to be enforceable at all.

For contracts involving the sale of goods, UCC Section 2-725 sets a four-year statute of limitations for breach of contract involving the sale of goods. This provision applies uniformly regardless of whether the contract was written or oral, and it overrides the state's general contract statute of limitations for transactions governed by Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The four-year period can be reduced by agreement of the parties to no less than one year, but it cannot be extended. The clock starts on the date of the breach (which is typically the date of tender of delivery), not the date the buyer discovers the defect, unless the warranty explicitly extends to future performance of the goods.

If you are facing a potential breach of contract dispute and your filing deadline is approaching, the first step is to send a formal demand to the breaching party. A cease and desist letter can serve as both a demand for performance and a preservation of your legal position. If the breach involves a service agreement, employment contract, or commercial lease, the classification of the agreement (written versus oral, goods versus services) determines which statute of limitations applies. When the stakes are high, consider ordering attorney-drafted legal documents to ensure your demand or complaint meets all procedural requirements.

Claims against the United States government operate under a separate set of rules governed by the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). The FTCA requires administrative claims against the federal government within two years of the incident. Before you can file a lawsuit in federal court, you must first submit an administrative claim to the responsible federal agency using Standard Form 95 (SF-95). The agency then has six months to respond. If the claim is denied or the agency fails to respond within six months, you have an additional six months to file suit in federal district court. Missing either the two-year administrative deadline or the six-month litigation deadline permanently bars the claim.

The FTCA contains important exceptions. It does not waive sovereign immunity for intentional torts (assault, battery, false imprisonment, fraud) committed by most federal employees, although a special exception exists for law enforcement officers. Claims arising from discretionary government functions are also excluded. Military personnel injured incident to service are barred by the Feres doctrine, although Congress has created limited exceptions for medical malpractice claims through the Richard Stayskal Military Medical Accountability Act. State and local government claims follow their own notice requirements, which are often even shorter. Many states require a formal notice of claim to the government entity within 90 to 180 days of the incident, well before the general statute of limitations would expire.

The statute of limitations on debt determines how long a creditor or collection agency can sue to recover an unpaid obligation. These periods vary by state and by the type of debt instrument. Credit card debt (typically classified as an open account or written contract) carries a statute of limitations ranging from three to ten years depending on the state. Medical debt follows similar rules to general written or oral contracts. Promissory notes and judgments often have longer limitation periods, sometimes reaching ten to twenty years.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) provides federal protections for consumers dealing with third-party debt collectors. Under the FDCPA, a debt collector cannot threaten to sue on a time-barred debt or file a lawsuit that they know or should know is beyond the statute of limitations. Violations of the FDCPA carry statutory damages of up to $1,000 per action plus actual damages and attorney fees. Importantly, making a partial payment, entering a payment plan, or providing a written acknowledgment of the debt can restart the statute of limitations in many states, giving the creditor a fresh window to sue. Before responding to any collection demand, verify whether the debt is time-barred in your state.

The distinction between the statute of limitations and credit reporting timelines is also significant. Even after the statute of limitations expires and a creditor can no longer sue to collect, the debt may continue to appear on your credit report for up to seven years from the date of first delinquency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). These are two independent clocks. A debt can be time-barred for lawsuit purposes but still reportable on your credit history. Understanding whether you have grounds to challenge a collection attempt is critical. If a waiver or release was involved, learning whether can you sue after signing a liability waiver may be relevant to your situation.

Tolling and equitable tolling are two related but distinct mechanisms that can pause or suspend the running of the statute of limitations. Standard tolling applies automatically when certain conditions exist under state law. The most widely recognized tolling events are the plaintiff being a minor (the statute does not begin running until the child reaches 18 in most states), the plaintiff being adjudicated mentally incompetent, the defendant being absent from the state for an extended period, and the existence of a bankruptcy automatic stay that prevents creditors from pursuing litigation. In each case, the clock stops during the tolling period and resumes when the condition ends.

Equitable tolling pauses the statute of limitations when a plaintiff has been prevented from filing by extraordinary circumstances beyond their control. Courts apply this doctrine on a case-by-case basis and generally require the plaintiff to demonstrate two things: (1) they pursued their rights with reasonable diligence, and (2) an extraordinary circumstance prevented timely filing. Examples include a defendant who actively concealed the wrongdoing, a plaintiff who was physically incapacitated by the injury itself, or a situation where the plaintiff filed in the wrong court in good faith and the error was not discovered until after the deadline passed. Equitable tolling is not available in all jurisdictions and is never guaranteed.

The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) requires administrative claims against the federal government within two years of the incident, and equitable tolling has been applied in limited FTCA cases where the government actively concealed information. State government tort claims often have even shorter notice periods of 90 to 180 days that are strictly enforced, with limited tolling available. Military service under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) provides automatic tolling of all civil statutes of limitations during active duty, protecting service members who are unable to attend to legal matters while deployed. Regardless of the tolling mechanism, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving that the tolling condition existed and that they acted promptly once it was removed.

A statute of repose sets an absolute outer time limit that runs from a specific event (such as product manufacture or building completion), regardless of when injury is discovered. Unlike a statute of limitations, a statute of repose cannot be extended by the discovery rule, equitable tolling, or any other doctrine. It represents a hard cutoff that extinguishes the claim entirely, even if the plaintiff had no way of knowing about the injury during the repose period.

Statutes of repose are most common in medical malpractice and construction defect cases. In medical malpractice, many states impose a statute of repose of five to ten years from the date of the medical act, regardless of when the injury manifests. For construction defects, the repose period typically runs six to twelve years from the date of substantial completion of the project. Product liability statutes of repose, where they exist, typically run from the date of first sale or manufacture. The policy rationale is that at some point, even undiscovered claims must end so that potential defendants are not exposed to indefinite liability for past conduct.

The practical impact of a statute of repose can be severe. A patient who receives a medical device implant that fails eight years later may find their claim barred by a seven-year statute of repose, even though the personal injury statute of limitations would not have started running until the device failed. Similarly, a homeowner who discovers a structural defect fifteen years after construction may be barred by a ten-year statute of repose for construction defects. Understanding whether your state has a statute of repose for your claim type, and what the repose period is, can be just as important as knowing the statute of limitations itself.