Statute of Limitations Lookup: Injury Filing Deadlines by State and Claim Type

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year countdown normally starts the day you were hurt.

Statute: Ala. Code § 6-2-38(l)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year countdown starts the day the care that caused the harm happened, not the day you found out about it.

Exceptions that change it: If the harm could not reasonably have been found within those two years, you get six months from the day you found out, or from the day you learned facts that should have led you to find out, whichever comes first. A hard outer wall shuts the door four years after the treatment. A child who was under four years old when it happened has until the eighth birthday.

Absolute outer cutoff: 4 years from the act, omission, or failure complained of, except a child who was under four years old on that date has until his or her eighth birthday (§ 6-5-482(b)).

Statute: Ala. Code § 6-5-482(a)-(b)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year countdown starts on the date the person died, not on the date of the accident.

Exceptions that change it: The section states no discovery rule and no pause for children. Note the case can only be brought if the person who died could have brought their own injury case had they lived, so a deadline that had already run on their injury claim can block the death case too.

Statute: Ala. Code § 6-5-410(d); see also Ala. Code § 6-2-38(a)

Defective product

1 year

When the clock starts: The one-year countdown starts the day the injury, death, or property damage actually happened.

Exceptions that change it: For a slow-developing harm from swallowing or being exposed to a toxic or harmful substance over time, including radiation, you get one year from the day the harm was found or reasonably should have been found. The 10-year outer wall can be waived or extended by the original seller, but only in an express written agreement.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years after the manufactured product is first put to use by a person or business that did not buy it for resale, further distribution, or use as a component part (§ 6-5-502(c)); a separate 10-year cap runs from the date a government agency imposed a recall, repair or warning requirement (§ 6-5-502(e)(3)).

Statute: Ala. Code § 6-5-502(a)

Claim against a government

Depends on which government you are suing. City or town: present the tort claim within 6 months. County: present the claim within 12 months. State of Alabama: present the claim to the Board of Adjustment within 1 year, or 2 years if the injury caused death.

Deadline to put them on notice: City or town: 6 months from when the claim arose, presented to the clerk (§ 11-47-23). County: 12 months from when the claim arose or became payable (§ 11-12-8). State of Alabama: 1 year from when the claim arose, presented to the Board of Adjustment; 2 years if the injury caused death (§ 41-9-65(a)-(b)).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years from the injury under the general injury statute, Ala. Code § 6-2-38(l), for a case that can be filed in court. Note that against the State of Alabama itself the Board of Adjustment is the route rather than a lawsuit, and § 41-9-65(d) forbids the Board from hearing any claim filed late.

When the clock starts: Each of these clocks starts when the claim arises, which for an injury is normally the day you were hurt. The city clock is the short one: six months.

Exceptions that change it: For a county claim, a child or a person legally unable to handle their own affairs gets 12 months after that condition ends. For a State claim where the injury caused death, if the case is taken into the state courts first, the clock does not start until a final judgment is entered holding the claimant not entitled to relief through the courts. The city and town section states no pause of any kind.

Statute: Ala. Code § 11-47-23 (cities and towns); Ala. Code § 11-47-192 (sworn statement for a personal injury claim against a city or town); Ala. Code § 11-12-8 (counties); Ala. Code § 41-9-65(a)-(b) (State of Alabama, Board of Adjustment); Ala. Code § 6-2-38(l) (two-year period to file the lawsuit itself)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

Exceptions that change it: If the injured person was under 18 or was mentally incompetent when the claim arose, that time does not count, but the suit generally cannot be pushed back more than two years past the day the person turns 18 or regains competence (AS 09.10.140(a)). For a child hurt before turning eight, none of the time before the eighth birthday counts (AS 09.10.140(c)). Separately, a flat 10-year outer cutoff runs from the last act that caused the harm (AS 09.10.055(a)(2)), with a list of situations it does not apply to.

Statute: Alaska Stat. § 09.10.070(a)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year clock starts when the claim arises. The separate 10-year outer cutoff starts on the date of the last act by the provider that is alleged to have caused the harm.

Exceptions that change it: The 10-year cutoff does not apply at all if the harm came from an intentional act or gross negligence, from fraud or misrepresentation, from breach of an express warranty or guarantee, or if the facts that would have told you that you had a claim were deliberately hidden (AS 09.10.055(b)). If something with no medical purpose was left inside the patient's body, the 10-year clock is paused for as long as it stays undiscovered (AS 09.10.055(c)).

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years, measured from the last act alleged to have caused the injury, death, or property damage, Alaska Stat. § 09.10.055(a)(2).

Statute: Alaska Stat. § 09.10.070(a) (no separate medical-malpractice limitation section exists); repose at Alaska Stat. § 09.10.055

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year clock starts on the date the person died, not on the date of the injury that led to the death.

Exceptions that change it: Someone who criminally killed the person cannot recover for that death at all, either personally or as representative of the estate (AS 09.55.580(f)). The 10-year outer cutoff in AS 09.10.055 also covers death claims.

Statute: Alaska Stat. § 09.55.580(a)

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year clock starts when the claim arises. The statute does not spell out when that is for a defective product.

Exceptions that change it: Alaska's 10-year outer cutoff expressly does NOT apply to injuries caused by a defective product, so there is no 10-year backstop on product cases. The minority and incompetence pauses in AS 09.10.140 apply.

Statute: Alaska Stat. § 09.10.070(a)

Claim against a government

2 years to file suit; no pre-suit notice deadline in the statute

Deadline to put them on notice: Alaska's claim-presentation chapter, AS 44.77, is limited by its own text to claims for reimbursement for money expended, or for compensation for labor, materials, or supplies furnished, or services given to or for the state, which does not reach injury claims.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years from when the claim arises, under the general tort statute Alaska Stat. § 09.10.070(a), which applies 'except as otherwise provided by law' and which was confirmed not to be displaced by any deadline inside AS 09.50.250, AS 09.50.253 or AS 09.65.070.

When the clock starts: The same two-year clock as an ordinary injury case, starting when the claim arises.

Exceptions that change it: Alaska blocks certain claims against the government entirely rather than shortening the deadline. The State cannot be sued over a discretionary decision, or over assault, battery, false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, libel, slander, misrepresentation, deceit, or interference with contract rights (AS 09.50.250).

Statute: Alaska Stat. § 09.50.250 (suits against the State); Alaska Stat. § 09.65.070 (suits against municipalities); limitations period from Alaska Stat. § 09.10.070(a)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year countdown starts the day your claim arises, which in an ordinary injury case is the day you were hurt.

Statute: Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-542(1)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year countdown starts the day the claim arises, which is normally the day the medical care that caused the harm took place.

Statute: Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-542(1)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year countdown starts on the date the person died, not on the date they were first injured. The statute says this in so many words.

Statute: Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-542(2)

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year countdown starts the day the claim arises, normally the day the product hurt you. The separate 12-year outer cutoff is measured from the day that product was first sold to a user or consumer.

Absolute outer cutoff: 12 years from the date the product was first sold for use or consumption, unless the claim is based on the maker's or seller's negligence or on breach of an express warranty from the maker or seller.

Statute: Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-551 (adopting the period in § 12-542)

Claim against a government

180 days to file the written claim; 1 year to file suit

Deadline to put them on notice: 180 days after the cause of action accrues.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 1 year after the cause of action accrues.

Exceptions that change it: A minor, or a person who is insane or incompetent, may file the written claim within 180 days after that condition ends (subsection D). If the law or a contract requires you to go through a dispute-resolution, administrative claims, or review process first, both clocks run from the date of the final decision in that process (subsection C). A filed claim is treated as denied 60 days after filing unless you get a written denial sooner (subsection E).

Statute: Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 12-821.01(A) and 12-821

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years start on the day the claim arises, which for most injuries is the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: If the injured person was under 21 or legally insane on the day the claim arose, § 16-56-116 gives them three years after they turn 21 or after that condition ends. If more than one such condition applies, the clock does not start until all of them are gone.

Statute: Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105 (specifically subsection (3))

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years start on the date the doctor or hospital did the thing you are complaining about. The statute says that date 'and no other time,' so it does not matter when you found out about the harm.

Exceptions that change it: One narrow discovery rule: if something was left inside your body and could not reasonably have been found within the two years, you get one year from when it was found or should have been found, whichever comes first.

Statute: Ark. Code Ann. § 16-114-203

Wrongful death

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years start on the date the person died, not on the date of the accident or event that caused the death.

Exceptions that change it: If the person who caused the death was convicted of capital murder or first- or second-degree murder, the case can be brought within the same window the state has to bring a murder charge. If a case is voluntarily dropped, a new one must be filed within one year of that dropping, regardless of the death date.

Statute: Ark. Code Ann. § 16-62-102(c)

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years start on the date the death, injury, or property damage actually happened, not the date the product was bought or sold.

Exceptions that change it: The section itself states no discovery rule and no exceptions of any kind. The general tolling section for people under 21 or legally insane, § 16-56-116, is written to apply to 'any action under any law of this state,' which on its face would reach product cases, but no product-specific tolling language exists in § 16-116-203.

Statute: Ark. Code Ann. § 16-116-203 (Arkansas Product Liability Act of 1979)

Claim against a government

Against the STATE: file with the Arkansas State Claims Commission within the same period that applies to that type of claim in court (3 years for ordinary injury, 2 years for medical injury).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: State claims: filing with the Claims Commission within the ordinary court deadline for that claim type is the operative deadline (3 years for ordinary injury under § 16-56-105; 2 years for medical injury under § 16-114-203). Local government claims: the ordinary court deadlines apply, and § 21-9-301 caps liability at available insurance coverage.

When the clock starts: The clock is the same one that would apply if you were suing a private person for the same kind of harm, so for most injuries it starts the day you were hurt. Against the state you file with the Claims Commission instead of a regular court.

Exceptions that change it: Arkansas splits government claims in two. The Claims Commission hears claims against the state that are blocked by sovereign immunity, but § 19-10-204(b)(1) says it has NO power over a claim against a city, county, school district or other local body. Those local bodies are separately shielded by § 21-9-301, which makes them immune from damage suits except to the extent they are covered by liability insurance.

Statute: Ark. Code Ann. § 19-10-209 (time for filing with the State Claims Commission); Ark. Code Ann. § 19-10-204 (what the Commission does and does not hear); Ark. Code Ann. § 21-9-301 (immunity of counties, cities, school districts and other local bodies)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years generally runs from the day the wrongful act or neglect hurt you.

Statute: Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 335.1

Medical malpractice

1 year after the plaintiff discovers (or with reasonable diligence should have discovered) the injury, OR 3 years after the date of injury, whichever comes first

When the clock starts: Two clocks run at once: one starts the day the injury happened, the other starts the day you found out (or reasonably should have found out) you were hurt. Whichever deadline arrives first is your deadline.

Exceptions that change it: A child's case must be filed within three years of the wrongful act, except that a child under six years old gets three years or until their eighth birthday, whichever is longer. The three-year outer limit can be pushed back only for fraud, deliberate hiding of the harm, or a non-medical foreign object left inside the body. For a minor, the clock is also paused for any period when a parent or guardian and the provider or its insurer committed fraud or collusion in failing to bring the child's case.

Absolute outer cutoff: 3 years from the date of injury, extended only for fraud, intentional concealment, or a foreign object left in the body that has no medical purpose.

Statute: Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 340.5

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years generally runs from the date of the death.

Exceptions that change it: If a surviving claimant is under 18 or lacks the legal capacity to make decisions, that time does not count against the deadline (Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 352(a)). That pause does not apply to claims against a government entity (§ 352(b)).

Statute: Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 335.1

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years generally runs from the day the product injured you.

Exceptions that change it: If the injured person was under 18 or lacked the legal capacity to make decisions when the injury happened, that time does not count against the deadline (Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 352(a)).

Statute: Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 335.1

Claim against a government

Present a written claim to the public entity within 6 months of accrual for death, personal injury, or personal property claims (1 year for all other claims); then file suit within 6 months of a mailed or delivered written rejection notice, or within 2 years of accrual if no proper written notice was given

Deadline to put them on notice: 6 months after the cause of action accrues for death, injury to a person, or injury to personal property or growing crops; 1 year after accrual for every other kind of claim (Cal. Gov't Code § 911.2(a)).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 6 months from the date the entity's written rejection notice was personally delivered or put in the mail; if the entity never gave that written notice, 2 years from the date the cause of action accrued (Cal. Gov't Code § 945.6(a)).

When the clock starts: The first clock starts the day your claim arises, and you must hand the government a written claim within six months (or one year for non-injury claims). The second clock starts the day the government mails or hands you its written rejection, and you then have six months to file in court.

Exceptions that change it: If you miss the six-month claim deadline, you can ask the entity in writing for permission to file late, but that request must be made within a reasonable time and no more than one year after the claim arose (§ 911.4(a)-(b)). Time a person spends mentally incapacitated without a guardian or conservator does not count toward that one year, but time spent as a minor does count (§ 911.4(c)(1)).

Statute: Cal. Gov't Code §§ 911.2, 945.6 (see also §§ 911.4, 913)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years (3 years for motor-vehicle claims)

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the day you knew, or reasonably should have known, both that you were hurt and what caused it.

Statute: Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-102(1)(a)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the day you knew, or reasonably should have known, both that you were hurt and what caused it. Separately, an outer wall shuts the door three years after the treatment mistake itself, even if you never found out.

Exceptions that change it: The three-year outer wall does not apply if the provider knowingly hid what happened, if an object was left inside the patient's body, or if neither the injury nor its cause could reasonably have been known. A child who was under six when the mistake happened can sue any time before turning eight, and people under a legal disability get extra time under a separate statute.

Absolute outer cutoff: 3 years from the act or omission.

Statute: Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-102.5(1)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the date the person died.

Exceptions that change it: There is one longer window written into the statute: 4 years instead of 2 when the death was caused by a driver who committed vehicular homicide and left the scene in the same incident.

Statute: Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-102(1)(d)

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts when your claim arises, which courts have treated as when you knew or should have known the damage was caused by a problem with the product.

Exceptions that change it: The statute itself gives extra time to someone who was under 18, mentally incompetent, imprisoned, or outside the United States when the claim arose and who had no spouse or guardian; that person gets the full two years after the disability ends. Claims for breach of warranty are handled under a different sales-contract statute instead.

Absolute outer cutoff: No true statute of repose. There is a 10-year rebuttable presumption under Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-21-403(3) that the product was not defective, which shifts the burden but does not bar the claim outright.

Statute: Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-106(1)

Claim against a government

Written notice within 182 days of discovering the injury, then suit within the normal limitation period (2 years for tort claims against a public entity)

Deadline to put them on notice: 182 days after the date of discovery of the injury.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years, per Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-102(1)(h), extended by the mandatory 90-day waiting period if that waiting period would otherwise run out the clock.

When the clock starts: The 182-day notice clock starts the day you discover you were injured, even if you do not yet know who is at fault or how much you lost.

Exceptions that change it: Miss the 182-day notice and the claim is gone for good, with no do-over. After filing notice you must wait until the government denies your claim or 90 days pass, whichever comes first, before you can sue; if that wait would push you past the filing deadline, the deadline stretches by the length of the wait. Notice is not required for claims falling under one specific immunity waiver in section 24-10-106(1)(j).

Statute: Colo. Rev. Stat. § 24-10-109(1), (5), (6); Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-102(1)(h)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year clock starts the day you are hurt, or the day you first find out you were hurt (or reasonably should have found out), whichever is later.

Exceptions that change it: There is a hard outer limit: no matter when you find out about the injury, you cannot sue more than three years after the careless act itself. A counterclaim can still be filed any time before the written pleadings in a case are closed.

Statute: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-584

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the day the injury happens or the day you first discover it (or reasonably should have).

Absolute outer cutoff: 3 years from the date of the act or omission complained of.

Statute: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-584

Wrongful death

2 years from the date of death

When the clock starts: Two years from the date the person died.

Exceptions that change it: There is an absolute five-year cutoff measured from the act or omission that caused the death. Subsection (b) removes the time limit entirely when the person at fault has been convicted, or found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, of certain homicide crimes with respect to that death.

Statute: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-555(a)

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the day the injury, death or property damage first happens or is first discovered (or reasonably should have been discovered).

Exceptions that change it: The ten-year outer limit does not apply if you can prove the harm happened while the product was still within its useful safe life. It is also extended by any written warranty promising more than ten years of use, and it does not protect a seller who intentionally lied about the product or hid information about it. Asbestos claims are exempt from the ten years, with their own limits of eighty years for injury or death and thirty years for property damage from last exposure.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years from the date the defendant last parted with possession or control of the product (with exceptions in subsections (c), (d) and (e)).

Statute: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-577a(a)

Claim against a government

State: notice within 1 year of accrual, then suit within 1 year of permission. Municipal: written notice within 6 months, suit within 2 years.

Deadline to put them on notice: State of Connecticut: file a notice of claim with the Office of the Claims Commissioner within 1 year after the claim accrues, and never more than 3 years after the act or event (§ 4-148(a)). Town, city or borough: file written notice of intent with the clerk of that municipality within 6 months after the cause of action accrues (§ 7-465(a)).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: State of Connecticut: within 1 year from the date the Claims Commissioner's authorization becomes effective or permission to sue is granted, whichever is later (§ 4-160(i)). Town, city or borough: the action must be commenced within 2 years after the cause of action arose (§ 7-465(a)).

When the clock starts: For a claim against the state, the one-year clock starts when the injury or damage happens or is discovered. For a claim against a town or city, the six-month notice clock and the two-year suit clock both start when the claim arises.

Exceptions that change it: For state claims, the General Assembly can pass a special act letting a late claim in when it finds compelling fairness reasons and a public purpose. Once the Claims Commissioner grants permission to sue, any ordinary deadline is paused until the date permission is granted. Section 4-160(f) lets a medical malpractice claimant file a good-faith certificate and start a court case against the state directly, without first filing a notice of claim.

Statute: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-148(a); § 4-160(i); § 7-465(a)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date you say the injuries happened.

Exceptions that change it: Section 8116 of the same chapter preserves claims for children and people under a legal disability, and § 8117 stops the clock while the defendant is out of state. Section 8127, referenced in the text above, sets separate limits for injuries blamed on defective construction of buildings and other improvements to land.

Statute: 10 Del. C. § 8119

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date the injury occurred, not from the date you found out about it.

Exceptions that change it: If the injury was actually hidden and could not have been found with reasonable diligence, you get up to three years from the date of injury, and no longer. A child under six has until the later of the normal deadline or the child's sixth birthday. Claims for sexual abuse of a child patient by a health-care provider have no time limit at all.

Absolute outer cutoff: 3 years from the date the injury occurred (the discovery extension cannot reach past this).

Statute: 18 Del. C. § 6856

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date the wrongful death claim accrues.

Exceptions that change it: The savings provisions in the same chapter apply: § 8116 for children and people under a legal disability, § 8117 when the defendant is out of state.

Statute: 10 Del. C. § 8107

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date the injuries are claimed to have been sustained.

Exceptions that change it: Same savings rules as any other personal injury claim: § 8116 for children and people under a legal disability, § 8117 while the defendant is out of state.

Statute: 10 Del. C. § 8119

Claim against a government

State: no notice deadline; 2 years to sue. County/city: notice up to 1 year if a local ordinance requires it; 2 years to sue.

Deadline to put them on notice: County or city: a political subdivision may require notice by ordinance, but that ordinance cannot bar a suit if notice is given within 1 year of the occurrence (§ 4013(c)). City of Wilmington specifically: written notice to the Mayor within 1 year of the injury (§ 8124).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years for personal injury under 10 Del. C. § 8119; 2 years for wrongful death under § 8107. The tort claims act itself sets no separate suit deadline.

When the clock starts: The one-year notice clock for a county or city runs from the date of the occurrence. For Wilmington it runs from the day the injury happened.

Exceptions that change it: Because each county and city sets its own notice rule by ordinance, the actual local deadline can be shorter than a year, but state law says it cannot be used to kill a suit if notice arrived within one year. Damages against a county or city are capped at $300,000 for all claims from a single occurrence unless that government bought more insurance (§ 4013(a)).

Statute: 10 Del. C. § 4013(c); 10 Del. C. § 8124; 10 Del. C. §§ 4001-4006; 10 Del. C. § 8119

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the time the right to bring the case arises.

Exceptions that change it: Section 12-302 pauses the clock for anyone who is under 18, not of sound mind, or in prison when the claim arises; they get the full period after the disability ends. Section 12-303 stops the clock while the defendant is absent or hiding.

Statute: D.C. Code § 12-301(a)(8)

Medical malpractice

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the time the right to sue arises.

Exceptions that change it: You must give the health-care provider at least 90 days written warning before filing. If you send that warning inside the last 90 days of your deadline, the deadline moves out 90 days from the day the notice was served. A court can excuse a late notice if you show a good-faith effort to give it. The disability and absence rules in §§ 12-302 and 12-303 also apply.

Statute: D.C. Code § 12-301(a)(8); see also D.C. Code §§ 16-2802, 16-2803

Wrongful death

2 years from the date of death

When the clock starts: Two years from the date the injured person died, not from the date of the accident.

Exceptions that change it: Only the personal representative of the estate can bring the case.

Statute: D.C. Code § 16-2702

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the time the right to bring the case arises.

Exceptions that change it: Sections 12-302 and 12-303 pause the clock for people under 18, people not of sound mind, people in prison, and while a defendant is absent or hiding.

Statute: D.C. Code § 12-301(a)(8)

Claim against a government

Written notice to the Mayor within 6 months; then the ordinary limitation period for the underlying claim (3 years for negligence).

Deadline to put them on notice: 6 months after the injury or damage was sustained, in writing, to the Mayor of the District of Columbia.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: The section itself sets no separate suit deadline. The ordinary period in § 12-301 applies: 3 years for negligence under § 12-301(a)(8), but only 1 year for assault, battery, false arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution under § 12-301(a)(4).

When the clock starts: The six-month notice clock starts the day the injury or damage happens.

Exceptions that change it: A written report by the Metropolitan Police Department made in the regular course of duty counts as notice on its own. The notice requirement does not apply to claims brought under § 2-1403.16 (human rights) or § 1-615.54 (whistleblower).

Statute: D.C. Code § 12-309(a); D.C. Code § 12-301(a)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from when the claim accrues. Section 95.031(1) says a claim accrues 'when the last element constituting the cause of action occurs.'

Exceptions that change it: Intentional torts are treated differently: assault, battery, false arrest, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment and other intentional torts get 4 years under § 95.11(3)(n). Abuse-based claims have their own much longer periods under § 95.11(8) and (10).

Statute: Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date of the incident, or two years from when you discovered it or reasonably should have.

Exceptions that change it: Four years from the incident is the hard outer wall. If the provider hid the problem through fraud, concealment or intentional misrepresentation, you get 2 years from discovery but never more than 7 years from the incident. Either way, a case brought for a child on or before that child's eighth birthday is not blocked by those cutoffs.

Absolute outer cutoff: 4 years from the date of the incident or occurrence; extended to 7 years where fraud, concealment or intentional misrepresentation prevented discovery; neither cutoff bars an action brought on behalf of a minor on or before the child's eighth birthday.

Statute: Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(c)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from when the wrongful death claim accrues.

Exceptions that change it: Section 95.11(11) removes the time limit entirely for a wrongful death case against an individual person for an intentional act amounting to murder or manslaughter under §§ 782.04 or 782.07; no arrest, charge or conviction is required for that.

Statute: Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(e)

Defective product

4 years

When the clock starts: Four years from the date you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the facts giving rise to the claim.

Exceptions that change it: The 12-year cutoff does not apply if you were exposed to or used the product inside the 12 years but the injury did not show itself until later. It is also paused for any period the manufacturer's officers, directors, partners or managing agents actually knew the product was defective in the way claimed and took steps to hide it. Elevators, escalators and improvements to real property are outside this repose.

Absolute outer cutoff: 12 years from delivery of the product to its first purchaser or lessee for products with an expected useful life of 10 years or less.

Statute: Fla. Stat. § 95.11(3)(d); Fla. Stat. § 95.031(2)(b)

Claim against a government

Written claim within 3 years (2 years for wrongful death); suit within 4 years (2 years for medical malpractice and wrongful death).

Deadline to put them on notice: Present the claim in writing to the appropriate agency within 3 years after the claim accrues, AND, except for claims against a municipality, a county, or the Florida Space Authority, also present it in writing to the Department of Financial Services. For wrongful death the written claim must go to the Department of Financial Services within 2 years. For contribution claims it is 6 months.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 4 years after the claim accrues (§ 768.28(14)), except medical malpractice and wrongful death, which use the periods in § 95.11(5), 2 years, and contribution, which uses § 768.31(4).

When the clock starts: Both clocks start when the claim accrues, meaning when the last thing needed to make the claim happen occurs.

Exceptions that change it: You cannot sue until the claim is denied. If the agency or the Department of Financial Services does not finally decide the claim within 6 months, that silence counts as a denial and you may proceed. For medical malpractice and wrongful death the waiting period is 90 days instead of 6 months, and the limitation period is paused while the claim sits with them.

Statute: Fla. Stat. § 768.28(6)(a); § 768.28(6)(d); § 768.28(14)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from when the right to sue arises.

Statute: O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date the injury or death happened, not from the date you found out.

Absolute outer cutoff: 5 years from the date of the negligent or wrongful act or omission (the statute calls it a 'statute of ultimate repose and abrogation').

Statute: O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from when the right to sue arises.

Statute: O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from when the right to sue arises, under the general injury statute.

Exceptions that change it: The ten-year wall does not apply to a negligence claim against a manufacturer whose products cause a disease or a birth defect, or where the manufacturer's conduct shows willful, reckless or wanton disregard for life or property. A manufacturer cannot contract its way out of the ten-year rule.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years from the date of the first sale for use or consumption of the product.

Statute: O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 for the deadline; O.C.G.A. § 51-1-11(b)(2), (c) for the repose

Claim against a government

State: notice within 12 months, suit within 2 years. City: written claim within 6 months. County: claim presented within 12 months.

Deadline to put them on notice: State of Georgia: written notice within 12 months of the date the loss was discovered or should have been discovered, sent by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery with return receipt requested, or delivered in person with a receipt, to the Risk Management Division of the Department of Administrative Services, plus a copy to the state entity being blamed (§ 50-21-26(a)(1),(2)). City: present the claim in writing to the city's governing authority within six months of the event (§ 36-33-5).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: State of Georgia: 2 years after the date the loss was or should have been discovered (§ 50-21-27(c)). City and county: the section that sets the notice deadline does not set a separate suit deadline, so the ordinary 2-year injury period in § 9-3-33 applies.

When the clock starts: For the state, both clocks start on the date the loss was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered. For a city, the six-month clock starts on the day of the event. For a county, the twelve-month clock starts when the claim accrues or becomes payable.

Exceptions that change it: Against a city, the governing authority must consider and act on the claim within 30 days, and the ordinary deadline is paused while the demand sits with them without action. Against a county, a child or a person under a legal disability gets 12 months after that disability ends. Section 50-21-27(d) states that statutes of ultimate repose elsewhere in the Code still apply to state claims.

Statute: O.C.G.A. § 50-21-26(a); § 50-21-27(c); § 36-33-5; § 36-11-1

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from when the claim accrues.

Statute: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-7

Medical malpractice

2 years from discovery

When the clock starts: Two years from when you discover the injury, or from when you reasonably should have discovered it.

Exceptions that change it: Six years from the act is the outer wall, and that six years is paused for any stretch during which the provider failed to disclose. A child gets six years from the wrongful act, and a child under ten gets whichever is longer, six years or the child's tenth birthday. The child's time is also paused while a parent, guardian, insurer or provider committed fraud or gross negligence or joined in a scheme not to bring the case, and while the injury could not have been discovered with reasonable diligence.

Absolute outer cutoff: 6 years from the date of the alleged act or omission causing the injury or death, tolled for any period during which the person has failed to disclose.

Statute: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-7.3

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from when the claim accrues.

Exceptions that change it: Section 657-13 pauses the clock for people who are minors, not of sound mind, or imprisoned. If the death was caused by a licensed medical provider's negligence, § 657-7.3 governs instead: two years from discovery, six years maximum.

Statute: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-7 (claim created by Haw. Rev. Stat. § 663-3)

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from when the claim accrues.

Exceptions that change it: Section 657-13 pauses the clock for minors, people not of sound mind, and prisoners. Sections 657-20 and 657-21 extend the time where the defendant hid the claim.

Statute: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-7

Claim against a government

State: 2 years to sue, no notice step in the limitations section. County: written notice within 2 years.

Deadline to put them on notice: State of Hawaii: § 662-4 states no notice-of-claim step. County: written notice of the injuries and the specific damages within two years after the injuries accrued, given to the individual identified in that county's charter or, if the charter names none, to the chairperson of the county council or the county clerk (§ 46-72).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: State of Hawaii: 2 years after the claim accrues, except a medical tort claim, which uses § 657-7.3 (§ 662-4). County: § 46-72 sets the notice deadline only; the ordinary two-year period in § 657-7 applies to the suit.

When the clock starts: For the state, two years from when the claim accrues. For a county, the two-year notice clock starts when the injuries accrued.

Exceptions that change it: A medical tort claim against the state runs on § 657-7.3 instead: two years from discovery with a six-year outer wall. The county notice must go to whoever that county's charter designates, so the correct recipient differs by island.

Statute: Haw. Rev. Stat. § 662-4; Haw. Rev. Stat. § 46-72

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years run from the day the injury-causing event happened, not from the day you realized you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: The statute says plainly that ongoing effects, ongoing damage, or an ongoing relationship with the person who hurt you does not buy more time. The only two escapes written into the text are an object left inside your body by mistake and harm the wrongdoer deliberately hid from you.

Statute: Idaho Code § 5-219(4)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years normally run from the day the bad medical care happened, not from the day you found out you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: Two narrow escapes only: an object left inside your body by mistake, and harm the provider deliberately hid from you to dodge blame. In those two cases the clock starts when you knew or should have started asking questions, and you must sue within one year of that point or two years from the incident, whichever is later.

Statute: Idaho Code § 5-219(4)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the wrongful act or neglect that caused the death.

Statute: Idaho Code § 5-219(4)

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years, starting on the same date that governs ordinary injury cases, which is generally the date of the event that hurt you.

Exceptions that change it: The ten-year cutoff does not apply if the seller promised in writing the product was safe for longer, if the seller lied about or hid facts about the product, if the harm came from long exposure over time, if an ordinary careful person could not have spotted the defect within ten years, or if harm caused inside ten years did not show up until later.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years from delivery to the first buyer, as a rebuttable presumption rather than an absolute bar; the injured person can defeat it with clear and convincing evidence, and a longer written warranty extends it.

Statute: Idaho Code § 6-1403(3) (incorporating the accrual rule of Idaho Code § 5-219)

Claim against a government

180 days to file the written claim; 2 years to file suit

Deadline to put them on notice: 180 days for both state and local claims, but they go to different places: state claims to the Secretary of State (§ 6-905), city/county/school claims to that body's own clerk or secretary (§ 6-906).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years from when the claim arose or reasonably should have been discovered (§ 6-911).

When the clock starts: Both clocks start on the later of two dates: the day the claim arose, or the day a reasonable person would have discovered it.

Statute: Idaho Code § 6-905 (state), § 6-906 (city, county, school district), § 6-911 (time to sue)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years run from the date the claim came into existence, normally the day you were hurt.

Statute: 735 ILCS 5/13-202

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years start when you found out you were hurt, or when a careful person in your shoes would have found out, or when you got it in writing, whichever came first.

Exceptions that change it: The discovery rule is built into the statute. For a child hurt before 18, subsection (b) gives 8 years from the act but never past the person's 22nd birthday. Subsection (c) holds the clock until a legal disability other than being a minor is removed; subsection (d) pauses for a disability arising later but expressly cannot push past the outer 4-year limit.

Absolute outer cutoff: 4 years from the act, omission, or occurrence for adults; 8 years or the 22nd birthday, whichever comes first, for children.

Statute: 735 ILCS 5/13-212(a); minors 13-212(b)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years run from the date the person died, not from the date of the accident or injury.

Exceptions that change it: Subsection (e) allows 5 years from the death, or one year after the criminal case ends, where the death came from violent intentional conduct and the defendant is charged with a listed killing offense; that longer window applies only against the person who did it. Subsection (f) gives a family member who was under 18 when the claim arose two years after turning 18.

Statute: 740 ILCS 180/2(d)

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: The filing clock under subsection (d) starts when you learned, or should have learned, that you were hurt. The separate outer cutoff starts when the product was first sold or handed over.

Exceptions that change it: Subsection (d) gives 2 years from discovery of the injury, death or property damage but never more than 8 years after the injury happened, and holds the clock for someone who was under 18 or under a legal disability when the injury occurred. Subsection (c) preserves claims arising from later alterations, within 10 years of the alteration.

Absolute outer cutoff: 12 years from first sale, lease or delivery by a seller, or 10 years from first delivery to the initial user, whichever expires earlier; plus an 8-year outer limit measured from the date of injury under subsection (d).

Statute: 735 ILCS 5/13-213(b) and (d) (repose and discovery); 735 ILCS 5/13-202 (general 2-year personal injury period)

Claim against a government

Local government: 1 year to sue, no notice required. State of Illinois: 1 year notice (excused if the claim is filed within that year), 2 years to file in the Court of Claims.

Deadline to put them on notice: Local government (city, county, school district, park district): NONE. The notice section, 745 ILCS 10/8-102, is repealed. State of Illinois: 1 year, filed with both the Attorney General and the Clerk of the Court of Claims, and not required at all if the claim itself is filed within one year of accrual (705 ILCS 505/22-1).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: Local government: 1 year (2 years, with a 4-year outer cutoff, if the claim arises out of patient care by a public hospital or public health worker). State of Illinois: 2 years for injury and other tort claims under 705 ILCS 505/22(h); 5 years for contract claims under 22(a).

When the clock starts: Against a city, county, school district or park district, the one year runs from the day you were hurt or the day your claim came into existence. Against the State, both the notice clock and the filing clock start the same way, and for a death claim the notice clock starts at the death or at the appointment of the estate's representative, whichever is later.

Statute: 745 ILCS 10/8-101(a), (b) and 10/8-102 (repealed) for local government; 705 ILCS 505/22(h), 505/22-1, 505/22-2 for the State

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years run from the day your legal claim comes into existence. The statute says 'after the cause of action accrues' and does not define that phrase further.

Exceptions that change it: The text gives a longer window for injury from childhood sexual abuse: seven years from when the claim arises, or four years after the person stops being a dependent of the alleged abuser, whichever is later. Nothing about children generally, discovery, or other pauses appears in this section.

Statute: Ind. Code § 34-11-2-4(a)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years run from the date the doctor or other provider did the thing you say was wrong, or failed to do what they should have, not from when you found out you were hurt.

Statute: Ind. Code § 34-18-7-1(b)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: The statute says the case must be started 'within two (2) years' but does not name the date the two years run from. It gives no trigger date in the text.

Statute: Ind. Code § 34-23-1-1

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the day your claim comes into existence, with a separate hard outside limit of ten years counted from the day the product was first handed to the first user or buyer.

Exceptions that change it: The statute says it applies to everyone 'regardless of minority or legal disability,' so being a child or under a legal disability does not extend either period. If the claim arises between the eighth and tenth year after delivery, you still get a full two years from that point, which can push filing past the ten-year mark.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years after delivery of the product to the initial user or consumer, subject to the 8-to-10-year exception quoted above.

Statute: Ind. Code § 34-20-3-1

Claim against a government

270 days notice against the State; 180 days notice against a city, county, town or school corporation

Deadline to put them on notice: 270 days against the STATE (Ind. Code § 34-13-3-6); 180 days against a POLITICAL SUBDIVISION such as a city, county, town or school corporation (Ind. Code § 34-13-3-8). These are different numbers and different statutes.

When the clock starts: Both notice clocks run from the day the loss happens. The statutes say 'after the loss occurs.'

Statute: Ind. Code § 34-13-3-6 (State), § 34-13-3-8 (political subdivision), § 34-13-3-13 (suit prerequisite)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years run from the day the claim 'accrues,' the statute's own word for when the right to sue comes into being. The section does not define that term further.

Statute: Iowa Code § 614.1(2)

Medical malpractice

2 years from discovery

When the clock starts: The two years start on the earliest of three days: the day you actually knew about the injury or death, the day a reasonably careful person would have known, or the day you got written notice that it existed.

Exceptions that change it: A child who was under eight when the mistake happened has until his or her tenth birthday, or the ordinary two-year deadline, whichever is later. The general rule that holds the clock for children, § 614.8(2), expressly does NOT apply to medical malpractice. The six-year outer cutoff does not apply if the injury came from an object unintentionally left inside the body.

Absolute outer cutoff: 6 years from the date of the act, omission or occurrence, with one exception: an object unintentionally left in the body.

Statute: Iowa Code § 614.1(9)(a) and (b)

Wrongful death

Not verified

This state does not set this deadline in a statute of its own, so we have left it blank rather than print a number we could not source. Do not assume the general injury deadline applies. Check with an attorney licensed in this state.

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: The 15-year outer cutoff starts the first time that product was bought, leased, borrowed or installed for use, not when it hurt anyone. The two-year filing clock is the ordinary injury clock.

Exceptions that change it: The 15-year cutoff does not apply where the maker or seller intentionally misrepresented facts about the product or hid information about it and that conduct substantially caused the harm. It also does not apply to a slow-developing disease from a harmful material, where the claim instead arises when the disease and its cause became known or should have been known.

Absolute outer cutoff: 15 years from first purchase, lease, bailment or installation, extendable only by an express longer warranty.

Statute: Iowa Code § 614.1(2A)(a) (outer cutoff); Iowa Code § 614.1(2) (the filing period)

Claim against a government

State: written claim to the Department of Management within 2 years. City or county: 2 years to file suit, no notice step found.

Deadline to put them on notice: State of Iowa: 2 years to file the written administrative claim with the Director of the Department of Management (§ 669.13(1)).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: State of Iowa: no separate outer deadline stated. Suit is barred until the Attorney General finally disposes of the claim, and the time to sue is extended six months from the mailing of that final-disposition notice or from withdrawal of the claim (§ 669.13(1), § 669.5(1)). Cities and counties: 2 years from the wrongful death, loss or injury (§ 670.5).

When the clock starts: Against the State, the two years run from when the claim arose, and the paperwork must reach the Department of Management inside that window. Filing a lawsuit alone does not satisfy it. Against a city or county, the two years run from the date of the injury, loss or death itself.

Exceptions that change it: Iowa Code § 614.8 is carved into both sections and by its own terms covers chapters 669 and 670, so a child gets one year after turning 18 and a person with a mental illness one year after the condition ends. Under § 669.13(2), if a claim was filed under some other law and a court later rules chapter 669 is the exclusive remedy, the two years is extended six months from that ruling.

Statute: Iowa Code § 669.13(1)-(3) and § 669.5(1) (State); Iowa Code § 670.5 (municipalities)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years start when the careless act first causes you real harm, or, if you could not reasonably have known you were hurt at that point, when the injury becomes something you could reasonably have discovered.

Statute: K.S.A. § 60-513(a)(4), with accrual and outer limit in § 60-513(b)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years normally start the day the doctor, nurse or hospital did the thing that hurt you, unless you could not reasonably have known you were harmed yet, in which case they start when you reasonably could have found out.

Absolute outer cutoff: 4 years from the act giving rise to the claim.

Statute: K.S.A. § 60-513(a)(7), with accrual and outer limit in § 60-513(c)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years, running from when the act that caused the death first produced real harm, or, if that harm was not reasonably discoverable at the time, from when it reasonably became discoverable.

Statute: K.S.A. § 60-513(a)(5)

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year clock is the same general injury clock: it starts when the product first causes you real harm, or when that harm reasonably could have been discovered.

Exceptions that change it: The 10-year presumption does not apply if the seller intentionally misrepresented or hid facts about the product, if the harm came from prolonged exposure to a defective product, if the defect was not discoverable by a reasonably careful person until more than 10 years after delivery, or if harm caused within 10 years did not show up until later.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years from delivery to the first non-commercial buyer or lessee, framed as a rebuttable presumption rather than an absolute bar, and extendable if the seller expressly warranted the product for longer.

Statute: K.S.A. § 60-3303 (useful safe life), expressly preserving K.S.A. § 60-513 as the filing period

Claim against a government

2 years to sue both state and local government; local claims additionally require a written notice plus a wait for denial or 120 days

Deadline to put them on notice: MUNICIPALITIES: the statute sets no fixed deadline for filing the notice itself. What it sets is a mandatory sequence: file written notice first, then wait until the municipality denies the claim or until 120 days pass, whichever comes first, before suing. STATE: no pre-suit notice requirement appears anywhere in the Kansas Tort Claims Act text read.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years for both, borrowed from the code of civil procedure (K.S.A. 60-513), with a floor of at least 90 days from the date a municipal claim is denied or deemed denied.

When the clock starts: The lawsuit clock is the ordinary two-year injury clock. On top of that, if you are suing a city, county, school district or other local body, you must send them a written claim first and then wait: you cannot file suit until they say no or until 120 days go by, whichever happens first.

Statute: K.S.A. § 12-105b(d)(1) (municipalities); K.S.A. § 75-6103(b)(1) (Kansas Tort Claims Act)

Personal injury (general negligence)

1 year (2 years for motor vehicle claims)

When the clock starts: One year from the day the injury claim arises. For a motor vehicle crash, two years from the crash, the death, or the date the insurer issued the last no-fault benefit payment, whichever of those happens latest.

Statute: KRS 413.140(1)(a); motor vehicle carve-out at KRS 304.39-230(6)

Medical malpractice

1 year

When the clock starts: One year from when you found out you were hurt, or from when a reasonable person would have found out.

Exceptions that change it: The discovery rule is written into the statute itself. KRS 413.170(1) extends the time for someone who was a minor or of unsound mind when the claim arose.

Absolute outer cutoff: 5 years from the date of the negligent act or omission.

Statute: KRS 413.140(1)(e), with accrual and outer limit at KRS 413.140(2)

Wrongful death

1 year from appointment of the estate's representative, with an effective outer limit of 2 years from the death

When the clock starts: The estate's representative has one year from the day the court formally appoints them. If nobody is appointed within a year of the death, the law treats the appointment as having happened on the one-year anniversary of the death, so the suit is due two years after the death at the latest.

Exceptions that change it: KRS 413.170(1) covers a claimant who was a minor or of unsound mind when the claim arose. Nothing else on pausing the clock appears in the text of KRS 413.180.

Statute: KRS 413.180(1) and (2), read together with KRS 413.140(1)(a)

Defective product

1 year

When the clock starts: One year from the day the injury claim arises, the same as any other personal injury.

Exceptions that change it: Same as general personal injury: KRS 413.170(1) extends the time for someone who was a minor or of unsound mind when the claim arose.

Statute: KRS 413.140(1)(a)

Claim against a government

State: 1 year to file with the Board of Claims. City: 90-day notice for public-way defects, 1 year to sue. County: not verified.

Deadline to put them on notice: STATE: no separate notice step. The claim itself must be FILED with the Board of Claims within 1 year (KRS 49.120). CITY: 90 days from the injury, but only for injury from a defect in a bridge, street, sidewalk, alley or other public thoroughfare (KRS 411.110).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: STATE: 1 year to file with the Board of Claims, with an absolute outer cutoff of 2 years from the negligent act for personal injury and 3 years for medical malpractice. CITY: 1 year under KRS 413.140(1)(a); KRS 411.110 sets no filing deadline of its own.

When the clock starts: Against the State, one year from when you found out you were hurt or from when a reasonable person would have found out, and never more than two years after the careless act itself, or three years if it was medical care. Against a city, the written notice is due within 90 days of the day the injury happened.

Statute: KRS 49.120 (State, Board of Claims; formerly KRS 44.110); KRS 411.110 (city notice); KRS 49.040(1) (damage caps)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts the day you are hurt or your property is damaged.

Exceptions that change it: The clock does not run against children or people under legal protection in permanent-disability product cases. Louisiana calls this deadline 'prescription' rather than a statute of limitations.

Statute: La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1

Medical malpractice

1 year from the act, omission or neglect, or 1 year from the date you discover it

When the clock starts: The clock starts the day the bad care happened, or the day you found out about it, whichever gets you more time.

Exceptions that change it: The statute says flatly that it applies to everyone, including children and people under legal protection. Even if you discover the harm late, you can never file more than three years after the care was given.

Absolute outer cutoff: 3 years from the date of the act, omission or neglect – absolute outer limit.

Statute: La. R.S. 9:5628(A)

Wrongful death

1 year from the death, or 2 years from the day the injury was sustained, whichever is longer (1 year from death for medical malpractice deaths)

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the day the person died, or on the day the injury that killed them happened – you get whichever of those two gives you more time.

Exceptions that change it: If the death came from medical care, the deadline is a flat one year from the death with no two-year alternative. The right to sue can be inherited, but inheriting it does not add any extra time.

Statute: La. Civ. Code art. 2315.2(B) and (F)

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts the day the product hurt you.

Exceptions that change it: The clock is paused for children and people under legal protection in product cases involving permanent disability. This pause is written directly into the general deadline statute.

Statute: La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1 (general delictual prescription)

Claim against a government

2 years to file suit; no pre-suit notice-of-claim deadline located

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years from the day the injury or damage is sustained (same general delictual prescription as any other injury claim).

When the clock starts: The two-year clock starts the day you are hurt, the same as any other injury claim. The separate 90-day clock starts the day you file your lawsuit.

Exceptions that change it: There is a trap after you file. You must ask the court to deliver the papers to the government within 90 days of filing. If you miss that, the government gets dropped from the case, and the statute says your filing then counts for nothing against that government – the two-year clock is treated as if it never stopped running. Louisiana treats the state and local governments the same way here.

Statute: La. R.S. 13:5101 (Louisiana Governmental Claims Act); La. R.S. 13:5107(D)(1) (90-day service rule); La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1 (two-year prescription)

Personal injury (general negligence)

6 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts when your claim accrues, which for an ordinary injury is when you are hurt.

Exceptions that change it: This is the catch-all deadline and it gives way to any shorter deadline written for a specific kind of case, such as medical care, death claims, or claims against a government. Maine's minority rule is in a separate section (14 M.R.S. § 853) which was not read here.

Statute: 14 M.R.S. § 752

Medical malpractice

3 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts the day the bad care happened, not the day you found out about it.

Exceptions that change it: There is no general late-discovery rule here – the clock runs from the date of the act even if you had no way to know. The one exception is an object left inside your body, where the clock instead starts when you discover the harm or reasonably should have. Children get 6 years from the bad care or 3 years after turning 18, whichever comes first. A chemical, prosthetic aid, or anything deliberately left in your body does not count as a left-behind object.

Statute: 24 M.R.S. § 2902

Wrongful death

3 years (6 years in homicide cases, measured from discovery)

When the clock starts: The clock starts the day the person died.

Exceptions that change it: If the death was a homicide, you instead get 6 years from the day the person handling the estate learns there is a real case against whoever caused it. The suit must be filed by the personal representative or special administrator of the estate, not by family members in their own names. If a government body is the defendant, the shorter Maine Tort Claims Act limits apply instead.

Statute: 18-C M.R.S. § 2-807(2)

Defective product

6 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts when your claim accrues, which for a defective product is when the product hurts you.

Exceptions that change it: Same as any ordinary injury claim under the 6-year catch-all. No product-specific pause or extension is written into either section.

Statute: 14 M.R.S. § 752 (general limitation); 14 M.R.S. § 221 (strict liability for defective goods)

Claim against a government

Notice within 365 days; suit within 2 years

Deadline to put them on notice: 365 days after the claim accrues (or later if the claimant shows good cause, but never past the 2-year suit deadline).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years after the cause of action accrues.

When the clock starts: Both clocks start the day your claim accrues, which is normally the day you are hurt.

Exceptions that change it: Children get 2 years from their 18th birthday to sue, and 365 days from their 18th birthday to give notice. If you were unable to act because of your condition, a relative, lawyer or agent can file the notice for you. A late notice can still be accepted if you show good cause, but only up to the 2-year suit deadline. 'Good cause' expressly covers being led to believe by the government or its insurer that your losses were covered.

Statute: 14 M.R.S. § 8107(1) (notice); 14 M.R.S. § 8110 (suit deadline)

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts when your claim accrues, which for an ordinary injury is when you are hurt.

Exceptions that change it: This is the catch-all deadline and it gives way to any different deadline written elsewhere in the Maryland Code, such as the ones for medical care, death claims, and claims against a government. Maryland's separate rules for children and people who are mentally incompetent are in Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-201, which was not read here.

Statute: Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101

Medical malpractice

The earlier of 5 years from the injury or 3 years from the date the injury was discovered

When the clock starts: Two clocks run at once. One starts the day the bad care happened and runs 5 years. The other starts the day you discovered the injury and runs 3 years. Whichever runs out first is your deadline.

Exceptions that change it: For a child hurt before age 11, both clocks start on the child's 11th birthday. If the injury was to the child's reproductive system or was caused by an object left inside the body, both clocks instead start on the child's 16th birthday. Filing a claim with Maryland's Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office counts as filing the lawsuit for deadline purposes.

Absolute outer cutoff: 5 years from the date the injury was committed – this is the outer limit and it can cut off a claim before you ever discover it.

Statute: Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-109

Wrongful death

3 years after the death

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the day the person died, not the day of the accident that killed them.

Exceptions that change it: If a workplace disease from a toxic substance caused the death, you get the shorter of 10 years from the death or 3 years from when the cause of death was discovered. If the death was a criminal homicide and someone hid who was responsible, the clock instead starts when the family discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the killing and the identity of the person involved. Only one wrongful death case may be brought over a single death.

Statute: Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-904(g)

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts when your claim accrues, which for a defective product is when the product injures you.

Exceptions that change it: Same as any ordinary injury claim under the 3-year catch-all.

Statute: Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101 (general limitation)

Claim against a government

State: claim to the Treasurer within 1 year, suit within 3 years. Local: notice within 1 year, suit within 3 years.

Deadline to put them on notice: 1 year after the injury, for both state and local claims – but they go to different places.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: State: 3 years after the cause of action arises (State Gov't § 12-106(b)(3)). Local: no separate deadline is stated in the Local Government Tort Claims Act, so the general 3-year rule in Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101 applies.

When the clock starts: Both the notice clock and the suit clock start when you are injured.

Exceptions that change it: Both laws have a safety valve. Against the State, a judge can still hear the case for good cause unless the State can show its defence was actually harmed by the late claim, and the notice step is skipped entirely if the State already knew about the injury or the dangerous condition within the year. Against a city or county, the same good-cause escape applies, and the notice step is skipped if the local government already had actual or constructive notice within the year.

Statute: Md. Code, State Gov't § 12-106 (Maryland Tort Claims Act); Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-304 (Local Government Tort Claims Act); Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts when your claim accrues, which for an ordinary injury is when you are hurt.

Exceptions that change it: The words 'except as otherwise provided' mean any more specific deadline elsewhere in the law wins. Massachusetts rules for children and people under a legal disability are in ch. 260, § 7, which was not read here.

Statute: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2A

Medical malpractice

3 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts when your claim accrues. The separate 7-year outside limit starts on the day the bad care happened.

Exceptions that change it: Seven years after the treatment, the door closes no matter what – even if you had no way of knowing you were hurt. The single exception is an object left inside your body, which is not subject to that 7-year cutoff. The same section also sets a 3-year deadline for malpractice claims against lawyers and accountants and for injury claims against counties, cities and towns.

Absolute outer cutoff: 7 years after the act or omission, except where an object was left in the body.

Statute: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 4 (second paragraph)

Wrongful death

3 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the day the person died, or on the day the person handling the estate learned (or reasonably should have learned) the facts behind the claim.

Exceptions that change it: The case must be brought by the executor or administrator of the estate, not by relatives in their own names. Several other sections of the limitations chapter can extend the time further.

Statute: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 229, § 2

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: For the warranty route the clock starts on the date the injury and damage happens. For the negligence route it starts when the claim accrues.

Exceptions that change it: It is three years either way, so the route you pick does not change the deadline. The warranty statute also says the maker cannot contract its way out of this and that failing to give notice does not sink your case unless the defendant proves it was harmed by the delay.

Statute: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2A (negligence); Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 106, § 2-318 (breach of warranty)

Claim against a government

Present the claim in writing within 2 years; file suit within 3 years

Deadline to put them on notice: 2 years after the cause of action arose – written presentment to the executive officer of the public employer.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 3 years after the cause of action accrued.

When the clock starts: Both clocks start on the date the claim arose.

Exceptions that change it: You cannot sue until the claim has been denied. If the official simply ignores your written claim for six months, that silence counts as a denial and you may proceed. Claims involving the sexual abuse of a minor are handled under a different statute (ch. 260, § 4C1/2) and do not require this written claim step at all. The written claim step also does not apply to claims raised defensively inside a case someone else started.

Statute: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 258, § 4

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts at the time of the injury.

Statute: Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5805(2)

Medical malpractice

2 years from the act or omission, or 6 months after you discover the claim, whichever is later

When the clock starts: The clock starts the day the bad care happened, whether or not you knew about it. A separate 6-month clock starts the day you discover, or should have discovered, that you have a claim.

Exceptions that change it: The 6-year outer cutoff does not apply in two situations: where the health care provider or a named employee hid the problem by fraud, and where the harm was permanent loss of or damage to a reproductive organ causing inability to have children. If you rely on late discovery, you carry the burden of proving you could not reasonably have found out sooner. If the patient died, § 600.5852 lets the estate's representative sue within 2 years after being appointed, capped at 3 years past the normal deadline.

Absolute outer cutoff: 6 years after the date of the act or omission – with two exceptions where no 6-year cap applies.

Statute: Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5805(8); Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5838a

Wrongful death

3 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts at the time of the death or the injury.

Exceptions that change it: There is an extra lifeline for estates. If the person died before the normal deadline ran out (or within 30 days after), the court-appointed representative gets 2 years from the date they receive their letters of authority, even if the normal deadline has already passed. That lifeline itself has a hard ceiling: never more than 3 years past the normal deadline. For a malpractice death the 2 years runs from the appointment of the FIRST representative, and appointing a later one does not restart it.

Statute: Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5805(2); Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5852 (saving provision for estates)

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts at the time of the injury, under the general accrual rule in subsection (1) of the same section.

Exceptions that change it: There is a distinct penalty for old products rather than a hard cutoff: if the product has been in use 10 years or more, you must prove your case without the benefit of any legal presumption in your favour. That makes the case harder to win but does not close the courthouse door.

Statute: Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5805(12)

Claim against a government

Against the State: file a claim or notice with the Court of Claims within 6 months for injury or property damage. Against a local government for a road defect: notice within 120 days, suit within 2 years.

Deadline to put them on notice: State: 6 months after the event for personal injury or property damage (1 year for other claims). Local road-defect claims: 120 days from the injury (180 days if the injured person was under 18 or was incapacitated).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: State: the ordinary limitation period applies (3 years for injury or death under § 600.5805(2)). Local road-defect claims under § 691.1402: 2 years (§ 691.1411(2)). All other claims against a government agency: the general limitation law applies (§ 691.1411(1)).

When the clock starts: The 6-month state clock starts on the day of the event that caused the harm. The 120-day road-defect clock starts on the day the injury occurred.

Exceptions that change it: For a road defect, a person under 18 at the time of injury gets 180 days instead of 120, and a person physically or mentally unable to give notice gets 180 days after that disability ends. The state's claim or notice must be signed and sworn before an officer authorized to administer oaths, and it must describe the time, place, nature of the claim, the damages, and which state agency was involved – copies go to the clerk, who forwards them to the Attorney General and the named agencies.

Statute: Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.6431 (Court of Claims notice); Mich. Comp. Laws § 691.1404 (highway defect notice); Mich. Comp. Laws § 691.1411 (limitations)

Personal injury (general negligence)

6 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts when the claim accrues, which for an ordinary injury is when you are hurt.

Exceptions that change it: The words 'not hereinafter enumerated' mean this 6-year period is the fallback and gives way to any shorter period set elsewhere. Minn. Stat. § 541.07 sets shorter periods for several specific torts; that section was not read here, so those shorter periods are not reported. Domestic-abuse assault and battery claims stay at 6 years under clause (9) of this same subdivision.

Statute: Minn. Stat. § 541.05, subd. 1(5)

Medical malpractice

4 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the date the claim accrued.

Exceptions that change it: The statute states no separate late-discovery rule and no outer cutoff. The only other rule in the section lets a patient raise an otherwise-expired claim defensively as a counterclaim if the provider sues first for unpaid bills.

Statute: Minn. Stat. § 541.076(b)

Wrongful death

3 years after the death, and never more than 6 years after the act or omission

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the date of death. A second, outer clock starts on the day of the act or omission that caused the death.

Exceptions that change it: Three different tracks. For an ordinary death claim: 3 years from the death, but never more than 6 years from the act that caused it. For a death caused by medical care: 3 years from the death, but never beyond the 4-year medical deadline in § 541.076. For a death caused by an intentional act amounting to murder: no deadline at all. The case must be brought by a court-appointed trustee, not by family members in their own names.

Statute: Minn. Stat. § 573.02, subd. 1

Defective product

4 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts when the claim accrues, which for a defective product is when the product injures you.

Exceptions that change it: The opening words 'unless otherwise provided by law' mean another statute can override this. The four years covers claims brought on a strict liability theory; a product case pleaded purely as ordinary negligence would fall under the 6-year catch-all in subdivision 1 instead.

Statute: Minn. Stat. § 541.05, subd. 2

Claim against a government

Notice within 180 days (1 year for death claims); suit within the ordinary limitation period for that kind of claim

Deadline to put them on notice: 180 days after the loss or injury is discovered – to the Attorney General for state claims, to the city or county governing body for municipal claims. For a death claim, 1 year after the injury or loss that resulted in the death.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: The ordinary limitation periods in chapter 541 apply – stated outright for state claims in Minn. Stat. § 3.736, subd. 11. In practice that means 6 years for ordinary negligence, 4 years for a product, 4 years for medical care, 3 years for a death claim.

When the clock starts: The notice clock starts on the day the loss or injury is discovered, not the day it happened. For a death claim the 1-year clock starts on the injury or loss that led to the death.

Exceptions that change it: Two real safety valves, written into both statutes. First, if the government or its insurer already has actual notice of enough facts to alert it to a possible claim, that counts as complying with the notice rule. Second, the 180 days does not include any time the injured person was too badly hurt to give notice. Leaving out the dollar amount does not void the notice, though you must supply the details within 15 days if asked.

Statute: Minn. Stat. § 3.736, subds. 5, 6 and 11 (state); Minn. Stat. § 466.05, subds. 1 and 2 (cities, counties and other political subdivisions)

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years usually start on the day you are hurt.

Statute: Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years start when you knew, or with reasonable care should have known, that something went wrong with your care.

Exceptions that change it: If a surgical item was left inside you, or the provider hid what happened, the clock does not start until you find out or reasonably should have, and the seven-year outer cutoff does not apply. A child who was 6 or younger when the harm was discovered gets until two years after the 6th birthday. Someone who is not of sound mind gets two years after that condition ends.

Absolute outer cutoff: 7 years from the act, omission or neglect, for claims accruing on or after July 1, 1998.

Statute: Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-36

Wrongful death

3 years, or 2 years if the death was caused by medical care

When the clock starts: Usually on the date of death, or on the date of the wrongful act that caused it.

Exceptions that change it: If the death came out of medical treatment, the shorter two-year medical deadline and its seven-year outer cutoff apply instead. If a government body caused the death, the one-year government deadline applies instead.

Statute: Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49 (catch-all); Miss. Code Ann. § 11-7-13 (creates the claim, sets no deadline); Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-36 (2 years for wrongful death from medical, surgical or other professional services)

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from when the product hurt you.

Exceptions that change it: If the injury or illness was hidden and showed up later, the clock starts when you discovered it or reasonably should have.

Statute: Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49 (catch-all); Miss. Code Ann. § 11-1-63 (products statute, sets no deadline)

Claim against a government

1 year to sue, plus a mandatory 90-day pre-suit notice

Deadline to put them on notice: Written notice of claim must be filed with the government's chief executive officer at least 90 days before suit is filed, and the notice must be filed inside the one-year period.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 1 year from the date of the wrongful conduct; a timely notice pauses the clock for 95 days, and after a denial or the end of that pause the claimant gets an extra 90 days to file.

When the clock starts: The one year runs from the date the government or its employee did the thing that hurt you, not from when you found out.

Exceptions that change it: A child, or a person who is not of sound mind, may sue within the same time after that condition ends. For unsoundness of mind that extension never runs longer than 21 years.

Statute: Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-11

Personal injury (general negligence)

5 years

When the clock starts: Five years from the day you were hurt.

Statute: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120(4)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date the bad care happened, not from when you found out about it.

Exceptions that change it: Two situations use a discovery clock instead: an object left inside the body, and a failure to tell you your test results. In both, the two years run from when you found out or should have. A child under 18 has until their 20th birthday.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years from the act complained of, or 2 years from a minor's 18th birthday, whichever is later.

Statute: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.105

Wrongful death

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from when the claim comes into being, which is normally the date of death.

Exceptions that change it: Any stretch when the person you are suing is out of Missouri, so they cannot be served here, does not count against your three years. If you filed on time and then dropped the case or lost it on appeal, you get one more year to refile.

Statute: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.100

Defective product

5 years

When the clock starts: Five years from when the product hurt you.

Statute: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120(4)

Claim against a government

No single statewide government-claim deadline; a 90-day written notice applies to certain city street and sidewalk claims, and the ordinary injury deadlines apply to the lawsuit

Deadline to put them on notice: 90 days from the incident, in writing to the mayor, for injuries caused by a defect in a bridge, boulevard, street, sidewalk or thoroughfare, in a city of 100,000 or more (§ 82.210) and in a fourth-class city (§ 79.480).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 5 years for injury (§ 516.120(4)). 3 years for death (§ 537.100).

When the clock starts: The 90 days for the notice run from the day of the incident.

Statute: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 82.210; Mo. Rev. Stat. § 79.480; Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.600 (waiver of immunity, no deadline stated)

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from when the claim comes into being, which is normally the day you were hurt.

Statute: Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-204(1)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date you were injured, or two years from when you found out about the injury, whichever comes later.

Exceptions that change it: If the provider failed to disclose the mistake, the clock is paused for as long as that lasts. A child who was under 4 when injured has a clock that does not start until the 8th birthday, and it is paused during any time the child is not living with a parent or guardian.

Absolute outer cutoff: 5 years from the date of injury.

Statute: Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-205(1)

Wrongful death

3 years, or 10 years if the death was a homicide

When the clock starts: Three years from when the claim comes into being, which is normally the date of death.

Exceptions that change it: A death caused by a homicide gets ten years instead of three. If the death came out of medical care, the two-year medical rule and its five-year outer cutoff apply instead.

Statute: Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-204(2)

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from when the product hurt you.

Statute: Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-204(1) (general tort period); Mont. Code Ann. § 27-1-719 (products statute, sets no deadline)

Claim against a government

3 years to sue, and you must first hand in a written claim

Deadline to put them on notice: No fixed deadline is stated for handing in the claim itself, but it must be presented in writing before suit: to the Department of Administration for a claim against the state, and to the clerk or secretary of the local body for a claim against a city, county or other local government.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 3 years, the ordinary tort period, because § 2-9-302 says a government claim is subject to the limitation of actions provided by law. Filing the claim with the Department of Administration pauses the clock for 120 days. A claim against a county that the county commissioners reject must be filed in court within 6 months of the first rejection (§ 27-2-209(3)).

When the clock starts: The three years run from when the claim comes into being, normally the day you were hurt. The 120-day pause starts the day the Department of Administration receives your written claim.

Exceptions that change it: If the state agency does not answer your claim within 120 days, that silence counts as a denial and you may sue. Third-party claims, cross-claims and counterclaims under Title 25, chapter 20 do not have to go through the claim step.

Statute: Mont. Code Ann. § 2-9-301; Mont. Code Ann. § 2-9-302; Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-209(3); Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-204(1)

Personal injury (general negligence)

4 years

When the clock starts: Four years from the day you were hurt.

Statute: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207(3)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date of the bad care, not from when you found out.

Exceptions that change it: If you could not reasonably have discovered the problem within those two years, you get one year from the day you discovered it, or from the day you learned enough to have looked into it, whichever comes first. Nothing can be filed more than ten years after the care.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years from the date the professional service was rendered or not rendered.

Statute: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-2828 (providers qualified under the Nebraska Hospital-Medical Liability Act); Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-222 (professional negligence generally)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date of death.

Exceptions that change it: Only the person appointed to represent the estate may file, so the family may need to open an estate first, and that takes time. If the death was caused by a health care provider covered by the Hospital-Medical Liability Act, that act's deadline applies instead.

Statute: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-810

Defective product

4 years

When the clock starts: Four years from the day the death, injury or damage happens.

Exceptions that change it: Asbestos illness is different: four years from the day a doctor told you about the illness and its link to asbestos, or from when you learned enough to have looked into it, whichever is earlier. If the product was made outside Nebraska and that place has no repose law, only the four-year deadline applies. The ten-year cutoff does not apply to a manufacturer's or seller's claim for indemnity or contribution.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years after the product was first sold or leased, for products made in Nebraska; for products made elsewhere, the repose period of the state or country where it was made, but never less than 10 years.

Statute: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-224

Claim against a government

Depends on which government you are suing: 2 years for the state, 1 year to file the claim and 2 years to sue for a city, county or other local body

Deadline to put them on notice: State: written claim to the Risk Manager within 2 years of when the claim accrued (§ 81-8,227(1)). Local: written claim to the governing body within 1 year of when the claim accrued (§ 13-919(1)).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: Local: suit must be begun within 2 years of accrual, extended 6 months from the mailing of the final decision or from withdrawal of the claim if the deadline would otherwise pass first (§ 13-919(1)).

When the clock starts: Both clocks run from when the claim accrues, normally the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: If you filed under some other law and a court or the government decides this act was the only route, you get six extra months from that decision. If a medical review panel is involved, you get 90 extra days after its opinion. § 25-213, the tolling section for children and people under a legal disability, is the only other statute that applies.

Statute: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-8,227 (State Tort Claims Act); Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-919 (Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the day you were hurt.

Statute: Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190(4)(e)

Medical malpractice

3 years from the injury, or 2 years from discovery, whichever comes first, for injuries on or after October 1, 2023

When the clock starts: Two clocks run at once. One starts on the date of the injury and runs three years. The other starts when you find out about the injury, or reasonably should have, and runs two years. Whichever runs out first is your deadline.

Exceptions that change it: If the provider hid the mistake, the clock is paused for as long as that lasts.

Absolute outer cutoff: 3 years from the date of injury, which acts as the outer cutoff.

Statute: Nev. Rev. Stat. § 41A.097(3)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date of death.

Exceptions that change it: If the death came out of medical care, the medical rule in § 41A.097 applies instead, and it expressly covers wrongful death.

Statute: Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190(4)(e); Nev. Rev. Stat. § 41.085 (creates the claim, sets no deadline)

Defective product

2 years for injury or death; 3 years for damage to property

When the clock starts: Two years from when the product hurt someone; three years from when it damaged property.

Statute: Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190(4)(e) (injury or death); Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190(3)(c) (property damage); Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.202(3)(b)(2) (construction repose does not reach product-defect claims)

Claim against a government

2 years to sue, and a separate 2-year deadline to hand in a written claim

Deadline to put them on notice: 2 years from when the claim accrues. A claim against the state or a state agency goes to the Attorney General; a claim against a city, county or other political subdivision goes to that body's governing body (§ 41.036(1)-(2)).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years under § 11.190(4)(e). § 41.036(3) says that filing the claim is not a condition precedent to bringing the lawsuit.

When the clock starts: Both clocks run from when the claim comes into being, normally the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: None stated in § 41.036 itself.

Statute: Nev. Rev. Stat. § 41.036; Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190(4)(e)

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the act that hurt you, or three years from when you discovered both the injury and its link to that act, if you could not reasonably have known earlier.

Statute: N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4, I

Medical malpractice

Not verified

This state does not set this deadline in a statute of its own, so we have left it blank rather than print a number we could not source. Do not assume the general injury deadline applies. Check with an attorney licensed in this state.

Wrongful death

3 years under the general personal-action deadline, with a hard 6-year outer limit from the date of death

When the clock starts: The 6-year outer limit runs from the date of death. The 3-year limit runs from the act that caused the death, or from when the injury and its cause were discovered.

Exceptions that change it: The statute makes the 6 years expressly 'subject to the provisions of RSA 508,' so the ordinary 3-year personal-action deadline and its discovery rule still apply inside that 6-year window.

Statute: N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 556:11; N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4, I

Defective product

3 years from when the injury was, or should have been, discovered

When the clock starts: Three years from when you discovered the injury, or reasonably should have.

Exceptions that change it: The time limits do not apply if the defendant lied about, hid or failed to disclose the problem, or where a written contract sets a different period, or to certain warranty claims under the sales code that do not seek damages for injury to a person or property. A claim for indemnity or contribution gets the same periods plus 90 days.

Absolute outer cutoff: 12 years after the manufacturer of the final product parted with possession and control or sold it, whichever came last; for a lessor, bailor or licensor with a duty to inspect or maintain, 12 years from when that duty or control ended.

Statute: N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 507-D:2

Claim against a government

3 years to sue, with a short written notice first: 60 days for a city, county or other local body, 180 days for the state

Deadline to put them on notice: Local: written notice by registered mail to the clerk of the governmental unit within 60 days of the injury or of its discovery, and this is a condition precedent to suing (§ 507-B:7, I). State: written notice to the agency within 180 days of the injury, also called a condition precedent, but the lack of notice does not bar the claim unless the agency proves it was substantially prejudiced (§ 541-B:14, IV).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 3 years for both. Local: 3 years after the injury or damage, or 3 years from discovery of the injury and its cause. State: 3 years from the date of the bodily injury, personal injury, property damage or wrongful death.

When the clock starts: The notice clock starts on the day of the injury, or on the day you discovered it if you could not reasonably have known earlier. The 3-year suit clock starts the same way.

Exceptions that change it: Local: a person who says a governmental unit subjected them to a sexual assault offense under RSA 632-A, or to endangerment of a child under RSA 639:2, may sue at any time and does not have to send the 60-day notice. Local: if the unit claims you gave no notice, the burden is on the unit to prove it was substantially prejudiced by that. State: the same substantial-prejudice safety valve applies, and someone else may send the notice on the claimant's behalf.

Statute: N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 507-B:7 (cities, counties and other governmental units); N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 541-B:14, IV (the state and its agencies)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years start on the day the claim arises, which is normally the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: New Jersey courts apply a discovery rule, so the clock can start later if you could not reasonably have known you were hurt or who hurt you. Children generally get until two years after they turn 18. A child hurt at birth by a doctor has only until the day before their 13th birthday.

Statute: N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:14-2(a)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date of the bad care, or from the date the patient knew or should have known they were hurt by it.

Exceptions that change it: A child injured at birth must sue before their 13th birthday. If the parent or guardian has not sued by the child's 12th birthday, the child, or an adult the child names, may start the case and ask the court to appoint someone to act for the child.

Statute: N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:14-2

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date the person died, not the date of the accident that caused the death.

Exceptions that change it: There is no deadline at all if the death was a murder, aggravated manslaughter or manslaughter and the person responsible was convicted, found not guilty by reason of insanity, or adjudicated delinquent.

Statute: N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:31-3

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date the product hurt you, or from when you reasonably should have realized the product hurt you.

Exceptions that change it: The same discovery rule and the same rule for children apply as in any other injury case.

Statute: N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:14-2(a)

Claim against a government

90-day notice; suit barred after 2 years

Deadline to put them on notice: 90 days after the claim arises.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years after the claim arises, and no suit may be filed until 6 months after the government receives the notice.

When the clock starts: Both clocks start the day the claim arises, normally the day of the injury or death.

Exceptions that change it: The statute itself points to § 59:8-9 as the only route around a missed 90-day notice. A child, or a person who was not mentally capable, may still bring a case within the same time limits counted from when they turn 18 or regain capacity.

Statute: N.J. Stat. Ann. § 59:8-8

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the day the claim arises, normally the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: New Mexico courts apply a discovery rule where the injury was not obvious right away. Separate statutes give more time to children and to people under a legal disability.

Statute: NMSA 1978, § 37-1-8

Medical malpractice

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the day the bad medical care actually happened, not from the day you found out about it.

Exceptions that change it: A child or a person who was not mentally capable gets one year after turning 18 or after regaining capacity. This deadline only covers doctors and hospitals that are qualified under the Medical Malpractice Act; a provider who is not qualified falls under the general three-year injury statute instead.

Absolute outer cutoff: 3 years from the date the act of malpractice occurred (occurrence-based, not discovery-based).

Statute: NMSA 1978, § 41-5-13

Wrongful death

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the date the person died. The statute says so in plain words.

Exceptions that change it: If a doctor or hospital caused the death, the Medical Malpractice Act's three-year cutoff in § 41-5-13 can apply instead, and that one is measured from the date of the bad care rather than the date of death.

Statute: NMSA 1978, § 41-2-2

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the day the product hurt you.

Exceptions that change it: The same discovery rule and the same rules for children and people under a legal disability apply as in any other injury case.

Statute: NMSA 1978, § 37-1-8

Claim against a government

90-day notice; 2 years to sue

Deadline to put them on notice: 90 days after the event; 6 months for a wrongful death claim (§ 41-4-16(C)).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years after the date of the occurrence (§ 41-4-15(A)).

When the clock starts: Both clocks start on the date of the event that caused the loss, injury or death.

Exceptions that change it: The notice deadline is paused for up to 90 more days if the injured person is too badly hurt to give notice. Written notice is not needed if the government already knew about the event and knew a lawsuit was likely. A child under seven has until their ninth birthday to file suit. Written notice is not required when the only person being sued is a government worker personally rather than the government itself.

Statute: NMSA 1978, §§ 41-4-15, 41-4-16

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: Assault, battery and a few other intentional wrongs get only one year under § 215. Injuries from long-term exposure to a harmful substance run three years from when you discovered the injury, under § 214-c. A person who was under 18 or not mentally capable when the claim arose generally gets three years after the disability ends, capped at ten years from when the claim arose (§ 208).

Statute: N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214(5)

Medical malpractice

2 years and 6 months

When the clock starts: Two and a half years from the date of the bad care. If the same doctor kept treating you for the same problem, the clock starts at the last treatment instead.

Exceptions that change it: If a foreign object was left in the body, you get one year from when you found it or reasonably should have found it. If cancer or a tumor was missed, you get two and a half years from when you knew or should have known, but never more than seven years from the negligent act. Children get more time under § 208, but for malpractice that extension is capped at ten years from the act.

Absolute outer cutoff: 7 years from the negligent act, for missed cancer or malignant tumor claims only (C.P.L.R. § 214-a(b)).

Statute: N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214-a

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date the person died.

Exceptions that change it: If a criminal case was brought against the same person over the same event, the estate gets at least one year from the end of that criminal case, even if the two years has already run out. Deaths caused by the September 11, 2001 attacks get two years and six months.

Statute: N.Y. Est. Powers & Trusts Law § 5-4.1

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the day the product hurt you.

Exceptions that change it: If the harm came from the slow-acting effects of exposure to a substance, § 214-c(2) starts the three years from the date you discovered the injury, or from when reasonable diligence should have turned it up, whichever comes first.

Statute: N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214(5); discovery rule at § 214-c(2)

Claim against a government

90-day notice; then 1 year and 90 days (local) or 2 years (state, if notice of intention served)

Deadline to put them on notice: Local government (city, county, town, village, fire district, school district): notice of claim within 90 days after the claim arises; in wrongful death, 90 days from appointment of the estate's representative. State of New York (Court of Claims): the claim itself must be filed and served on the Attorney General within 90 days of accrual, unless a written notice of intention is served on the Attorney General within that same 90 days.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: Local government: 1 year and 90 days after the event; wrongful death, 2 years after the death. State of New York: if a notice of intention was served within 90 days, the claim must be filed and served within 2 years of accrual; for state wrongful death, within 2 years after the death, and in any event no later than 2 years after the death.

When the clock starts: For injury cases, the day the injury happened. For wrongful death against a local government, the 90 days start when the court appoints the estate's representative, not the day of death. For wrongful death against the State, the 90 days also start at that appointment.

Exceptions that change it: Court of Claims Act § 10(2) covers state wrongful death: the claim must be filed and served on the Attorney General within 90 days after the representative is appointed, unless a written notice of intention is served in that window, in which case the claim must be filed and served within 2 years after the death, and never later than 2 years after the death.

Statute: N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law §§ 50-e, 50-i; N.Y. Court of Claims Act § 10(2), (3)

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the day your injury became apparent, or should reasonably have become apparent to you.

Exceptions that change it: There is a hard 10-year outer cutoff running from the defendant's last act. Assault, battery and false imprisonment have their own three-year rule in subdivision (19). Certain childhood sexual abuse claims are handled separately under G.S. 1-17(d) and (e).

Statute: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(5), (16)

Medical malpractice

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the doctor's last act that caused the harm.

Exceptions that change it: If you could not have known about the harm and you discover it two or more years after the doctor's last act, you get one year from the date of discovery, and the total can never be shorter than three years. If a foreign object with no medical purpose was left in your body, you get one year from discovering it, but never more than 10 years from the doctor's last act.

Absolute outer cutoff: 4 years from the defendant's last act; 10 years for a foreign object left in the body.

Statute: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-15(c) (with the 3-year period from § 1-52)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date the person died.

Exceptions that change it: If the person who died had already run out of time to sue for their own injury while they were alive, because of the malpractice cutoffs in § 1-15(c) or the 10-year cutoff in § 1-52(16), then no death case can be brought at all.

Statute: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-53(4)

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the day the injury from the product became apparent, or should reasonably have become apparent.

Exceptions that change it: The 12-year cutoff is absolute and runs from the date the product was first bought for use, no matter when the harm showed up.

Absolute outer cutoff: 12 years from the date of initial purchase for use or consumption (§ 1-46.1(1)).

Statute: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(16) (limitation); § 1-46.1(1) (repose)

Claim against a government

State: claim filed with the Industrial Commission within 3 years (2 years for wrongful death)

Deadline to put them on notice: No pre-suit notice deadline appears in the statute. Under the State Tort Claims Act the claim itself is filed with the Industrial Commission, and that filing must happen within 3 years (2 years for wrongful death).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 3 years after the claim arises; 2 years after the death in a wrongful death case.

When the clock starts: Three years from the day the claim arises. In a death case, two years from the date of death.

Exceptions that change it: None are written into this section.

Statute: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-299

Personal injury (general negligence)

6 years

When the clock starts: Six years from the day the claim arises, normally the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: The phrase 'when not otherwise expressly provided' matters. Assault, battery, libel, slander and false imprisonment get only two years under § 28-01-18(1), and medical malpractice gets two years under § 28-01-18(3).

Statute: N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01-16(5)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from when the claim arises, which North Dakota reads as when you discovered, or should have discovered, the malpractice.

Exceptions that change it: Not knowing about the malpractice cannot push the deadline past six years from the act unless the doctor or hospital hid it from you. Section 28-01-25 provides extra time for people under a legal disability.

Absolute outer cutoff: 6 years from the act or omission, unless the provider fraudulently concealed it.

Statute: N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01-18(3)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date of death.

Exceptions that change it: When the death was caused by malpractice, the two years run from when the malpractice was discovered instead, but never more than six years from the act unless the provider hid it.

Statute: N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01-18(4)

Defective product

6 years (general injury period, N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01-16(5))

When the clock starts: The six-year filing period starts when the claim arises. Separately, the harm itself must have happened inside the 10-year or 11-year window described above, or there is no case at all.

Exceptions that change it: The 10-year and 11-year cutoffs apply to everyone, including children. They do not apply if the maker or seller recalled the product or knew of the defect and failed to take reasonable steps to warn users. Asbestos injury cases get three years from being told by a doctor that asbestos caused the injury; asbestos property damage cases get six years from when the owner knew or should have known.

Absolute outer cutoff: The injury, death or property damage must occur within 10 years of the date of initial purchase for use or consumption, or within 11 years of the date of manufacture.

Statute: N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01.3-08 (repose); § 28-01-16(5) (limitation)

Claim against a government

State: 180-day notice, 3 years to sue. Local: no notice statute found, 3 years to sue.

Deadline to put them on notice: Claims against the State: written notice to the director of the office of management and budget within 180 days of discovering the injury, or within 1 year for a serious injury.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 3 years for both. State claims: § 32-12.2-02(4) points to § 28-01-22.1, which gives 3 years from accrual. Political subdivision claims: § 32-12.1-10(1) gives 3 years from accrual.

When the clock starts: Both clocks start when the claim arises, and § 28-01-22.1(2) says that for State claims the claim arises when it is discovered or could have been discovered with reasonable diligence.

Exceptions that change it: The 180-day notice clock does not run during any time the injured person is too incapacitated by the injury to give notice. The notice requirement is waived entirely for claims arising from sexual assault, sexual abuse, gross sexual imposition or similar acts. Claims based on those same sexual acts get 9 years, or 21 years if the person was under 18 when it happened.

Statute: N.D. Cent. Code §§ 32-12.2-04(1), 32-12.2-02(4), 28-01-22.1(1) (State); § 32-12.1-10(1) (political subdivisions)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the day the injury happens.

Exceptions that change it: For harm from hazardous or toxic chemicals, prescription drugs, medical devices, chromium, agent orange and similar defoliants, or DES, the clock starts when a doctor tells you the injury is related to the exposure, or when reasonable diligence should have told you, whichever comes first.

Statute: Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10(A)

Medical malpractice

1 year

When the clock starts: One year from when the claim arises. Ohio is a short-fuse state here.

Exceptions that change it: If you send the provider written notice that you are considering a claim before the one year runs out, you get 180 more days from the date of that notice. There is a four-year outer cutoff from the date of the bad care, which does not apply to children or people of unsound mind under § 2305.16, and does not apply where division (D) applies.

Absolute outer cutoff: 4 years from the occurrence of the act or omission (§ 2305.113(C)).

Statute: Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.113(A), (C)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the date the person died.

Exceptions that change it: If the death involved a defective product, there is also a 10-year cutoff running from when the product was first delivered to its first buyer or lessee.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years from first delivery of the product, for wrongful death cases involving a product liability claim (§ 2125.02(F)(2)(a)).

Statute: Ohio Rev. Code § 2125.02(F)(1)

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from the day the product injured you.

Exceptions that change it: The 10-year cutoff does not apply if the maker or supplier committed fraud about the product that contributed to the harm, or if they gave a written safety warranty longer than 10 years that had not expired. If your claim arises inside the 10-year window but less than two years before it closes, you still get a full two years to sue. There is also relief where a legal disability under § 2305.16 stopped you from suing in time.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years from the date the product was delivered to its first purchaser or lessee (§ 2305.10(C)(1)).

Statute: Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10(A), (C)(1)

Claim against a government

2 years, both state and local; no notice-of-claim deadline stated in either statute

When the clock starts: Two years from the day the claim arises.

Exceptions that change it: The two-year period for political subdivisions is paused under § 2305.16 for people under a legal disability. Both sections defer to any shorter deadline elsewhere in the Revised Code, so a claim that is also medical malpractice can still be governed by the one-year rule in § 2305.113.

Statute: Ohio Rev. Code § 2744.04(A) (political subdivisions); § 2743.16(A) (State, Court of Claims)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years run from the day the claim arises, which for an ordinary injury is normally the day you were hurt.

Statute: Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95(A)(3)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years start on the day the patient knew, or with reasonable care should have known, that the injury, condition or death existed. It does not start on the date of the treatment itself.

Exceptions that change it: The statute says in its own words that being a child or being legally incompetent when the claim arises extends the deadline. It does not say by how much, so how much extra time a child actually gets is not answerable from this section alone.

Statute: Okla. Stat. tit. 76, § 18

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: The statute says only that the case must be started within two years; it does not spell out the starting date inside this subsection. Courts read it as running from the death.

Statute: Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 1053(A)

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years run from the day the claim arises, normally the day the product injured you.

Statute: Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95(A)(3) (no separate product-liability limitation)

Claim against a government

Written notice within 1 year of the loss; suit within 180 days after the claim is denied

Deadline to put them on notice: 1 year from the date the loss occurs. For a wrongful death claim, 1 year after the death. Time during which the injured person is too badly hurt to give notice does not count, up to a maximum of 90 days.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 180 days after the claim is denied. The claimant and the government may agree in writing to extend the time to sue, but never beyond 2 years from the date of the loss.

When the clock starts: The one year for the notice runs from the date the loss happened, or for a death case from the date of the death. The 180 days to sue runs from the date the claim is denied, and if the government simply says nothing, the claim counts as denied 90 days after it was filed.

Exceptions that change it: Up to 90 days do not count against the notice deadline while the injured person is too incapacitated by the injury to give notice. If the government approves or denies the claim within 90 days but fails to mail the claimant notice of that decision within 5 days, the 180-day suit clock does not start until the full 90 days have run. Settlement talks do not push back the denial date unless both sides agree in writing.

Statute: Okla. Stat. tit. 51, § 156(B), (I) (notice); Okla. Stat. tit. 51, § 157(A), (B) (suit) , Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year clock generally starts on the date you were hurt, though for claims based on fraud or deceit the statute says it starts when the fraud or deceit is discovered.

Exceptions that change it: If the injured person was under 18 when the injury happened, the clock is paused while they are a minor, but the extension cannot add more than five years and ends one year after they turn 18, whichever comes first (ORS 12.160(1)-(2)). The same pause, with the same five-year and one-year caps, applies to a person with a mental condition that keeps them from understanding their rights (ORS 12.160(3)-(4)).

Statute: Or. Rev. Stat. § 12.110(1)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year clock starts the day the injury is first discovered, or the day a reasonably careful person would have discovered it.

Exceptions that change it: There is a hard outer cutoff of five years from the date of the treatment or procedure, and the statute says that cutoff applies even for children and people with a disabling mental condition, because it expressly overrides the pause in ORS 12.160. The only stated way past the five-year cutoff is fraud, deceit or a misleading statement that stopped the case from being filed, in which case suit must be brought within two years of discovering that.

Absolute outer cutoff: 5 years from the date of the treatment, omission or operation.

Statute: Or. Rev. Stat. § 12.110(4)

Wrongful death

3 years

When the clock starts: The three-year clock starts when the injury that caused the death is discovered, or when it reasonably should have been discovered, by the person who died, by the estate's personal representative, or by a family member the case is brought for.

Exceptions that change it: No matter when the injury is discovered, the case can never be filed later than the earlier of three years after the death itself, or the end of whatever outside cutoff period applies to the underlying wrongdoing (for example the five-year medical cutoff or the ten-year product cutoff). The case must be brought by the personal representative of the estate, not directly by the family.

Statute: Or. Rev. Stat. § 30.020(1)

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: The two-year clock starts when the injured person discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, both the injury or property damage and that the product (or the defendant's conduct) caused it.

Exceptions that change it: There is an outer cutoff: the case must be filed before the later of ten years from when the product was first bought for use, or the end of the cutoff period in the state where the product was made. If the person died, the deadline is three years from discovering the link between the death and the product, and the case can never be filed later than the earliest of three years after the death, ten years after first purchase, or the manufacturing state's cutoff.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years after the date the product was first purchased for use or consumption, or the expiration of the repose period of the state where the product was manufactured, whichever is later.

Statute: Or. Rev. Stat. § 30.905(1)-(2)

Claim against a government

Notice within 180 days (1 year for wrongful death); suit within 2 years

Deadline to put them on notice: 180 days after the alleged loss or injury; 1 year after the alleged loss or injury for wrongful death. Excludes up to 90 days during which the injured person cannot give notice because of the injury, minority, incompetency or other incapacity.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years after the alleged loss or injury.

When the clock starts: Both clocks start on the date of the loss or injury. Up to 90 days do not count against the notice clock if the injured person could not give notice because of the injury, because they were a child, or because of incapacity.

Exceptions that change it: Written notice is not the only way to satisfy the requirement: actual knowledge by the right official, filing the lawsuit itself within the notice window, or the government paying part of the claim all count (ORS 30.275(3)). No notice at all is required for a claimant who was under 18 when the wrongdoing occurred and who was in the custody of the Department of Human Services or the Oregon Youth Authority, or for claims against certain nonprofit public-transportation providers (ORS 30.275(8)).

Statute: Or. Rev. Stat. § 30.275(2), (9) , Oregon Tort Claims Act

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

Statute: 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5524(2), (7)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from when the claim arose (42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5502(a): computed 'from the time the cause of action accrued'). When a patient dies, the MCARE Act sets the start at the death itself.

Exceptions that change it: If the malpractice claim is a death or survival case, the MCARE Act says: 'If the claim is brought under 42 Pa.C.S. § 8301 (relating to death action) or 8302 (relating to survival action), the action must be commenced within two years after the death in the absence of affirmative misrepresentation or fraudulent concealment of the cause of death.' (Act 13 of 2002, Section 513(d)). Childhood pauses the clock under 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5533(b)(1).

Statute: 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5524(2), (7); 40 Pa. Stat. § 1303.513 (MCARE Act § 513)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from when the claim arose, computed under 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5502(a) 'from the time the cause of action accrued.' For a death caused by medical care, the MCARE Act states the two years runs 'after the death' (Act 13 of 2002, Section 513(d)).

Exceptions that change it: The MCARE Act allows more time for a medical death case where someone lied about or hid the cause of death: the two-years-after-death rule applies only 'in the absence of affirmative misrepresentation or fraudulent concealment of the cause of death.' If a person entitled to sue was an unemancipated child, the years before age 18 do not count (42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5533(b)(1)).

Statute: 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5524(2)

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: Two years from when the claim arose, computed under 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5502(a) 'from the time the cause of action accrued.'

Exceptions that change it: Childhood pauses the clock: 'If an individual entitled to bring a civil action is an unemancipated minor at the time the cause of action accrues, the period of minority shall not be deemed a portion of the time period within which the action must be commenced' (42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5533(b)(1)(i)). The discovery rule can delay the start while the injured person reasonably does not know they were hurt or what caused it.

Statute: 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5524(2), (7) (no separate product-liability limitation)

Claim against a government

Written notice within 6 months; lawsuit within 2 years

Deadline to put them on notice: 6 months from the date of injury or from when the claim arose.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years from when the claim arose. But if the 6-month written notice was never filed, any suit started more than 6 months after the injury must be thrown out unless the court excuses the failure.

When the clock starts: The 6 months runs from the day you were hurt or the day the claim arose. The 2 years for the lawsuit runs from when the claim arose (42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5502(a)).

Exceptions that change it: Three breaks exist only for claims against local government, not against the state itself: time while the injured person is too disabled to give notice does not count, up to 90 days; if the injuries cause death, the 6 months starts at the death; and missing the notice deadline is not fatal 'if the government unit had actual or constructive notice of the incident or condition giving rise to the claim' (42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5522(a)(3)).

Statute: 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5522(a) (notice); 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5524(2), (7) (suit)

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years run from the date your claim arises, which is normally the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: If you were under 18, of unsound mind, or living outside the United States when the injury happened, § 9-1-19 lets you bring the case within the normal time limit measured from after that condition ends. If you sued the at-fault person in time but the papers could not be served on them, you get an extra 120 days to sue their insurance company directly.

Statute: R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-14(b)

Medical malpractice

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years run from the date the bad medical care actually happened, not from the date you were billed or the date you sued.

Exceptions that change it: If the harm could not reasonably have been discovered when it happened, subsection (3) gives you three years from the point a reasonable person would have discovered it. A child injured by malpractice can sue any time up to age 21. Someone unable to handle their own affairs gets three years from the date that condition ends.

Statute: R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-14.1

Wrongful death

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years run from the date the person died.

Exceptions that change it: If nobody knew at the time of death that someone else's wrongdoing caused it, the three years instead run from when that wrongdoing was found out, or from when a careful person would have found it out. The same section sets a minimum award of $350,000 against anyone found liable.

Statute: R.I. Gen. Laws § 10-7-2(c)

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years run from the date the product injured you.

Exceptions that change it: Same as any injury case: being under 18, of unsound mind, or outside the United States when the injury happened pushes the start of the clock to after that condition ends, under § 9-1-19.

Absolute outer cutoff: None enforceable. The 10-year cutoff in § 9-1-13(b) is printed on the official state page with the flag '[Ruled unconstitutional, see case notes].'

Statute: R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-14(b) (general personal injury; no separate live product-liability limitation)

Claim against a government

3 years to file suit; no general notice deadline for the State, but cities and towns carry extra front-end steps

Deadline to put them on notice: No general notice deadline for claims against the State of Rhode Island. For a city or town, you must first present a written account of the claim to the town or city council under § 45-15-5 and wait 40 days before suing. For an injury from a defective highway, causeway or bridge, written notice to the town is due within 60 days under § 45-15-9(a).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 3 years from when the claim arises, for the State, any political subdivision, and any city or town.

When the clock starts: The three years to sue run from the date your claim arises, normally the day you were hurt. The 60-day highway notice runs from the date of the injury or damage.

Exceptions that change it: Claims for childhood sexual abuse against a government body follow a different rule in § 9-1-51 instead. Money you can recover from the State or a local government is capped at $100,000 under § 9-31-2, unless the government was running a business-type operation.

Statute: R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-25(a); § 9-31-1(a); § 45-15-5; § 45-15-9(a)

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years run from the day the injured person knew, or with reasonable care should have known, that they had a claim.

Exceptions that change it: If the injured person was under 18 or legally insane when the injury happened, the time they are under that disability does not count against them, but the case must be filed within one year after the disability ends, and any disability other than being a minor can only add up to five years (§ 15-3-40). If the person responsible leaves South Carolina for a year or more, that absence does not count against the deadline (§ 15-3-30).

Statute: S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(5); discovery rule at § 15-3-535

Medical malpractice

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from the date of the treatment or mistake, or three years from when the patient found out (or reasonably should have found out) about it, whichever gives more time, but never past the six-year outer limit.

Exceptions that change it: For a child injured before turning 18, being a minor can push the deadline back by at most seven years, and in no case more than one year after the child reaches adulthood; that limit is paused for any period when a parent or guardian and the provider's insurer or the provider hid the claim through fraud or collusion (§ 15-3-545(D)).

Absolute outer cutoff: 6 years from the date of the occurrence, § 15-3-545(A) caps the discovery extension at 'not to exceed six years from date of occurrence.' For the foreign-object claims in § 15-3-545(B) the statute instead guarantees a floor of no less than three years after the object was left in.

Statute: S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-545

Wrongful death

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years start on the date the person died, not on the date of the accident or the date the family learned what caused the death.

Exceptions that change it: If the person entitled to bring the case was under 18 or legally insane when the claim arose, that time does not count against the deadline, but the case must still be filed within one year after that condition ends, and any disability other than being a minor can only add up to five years (§ 15-3-40). If the defendant leaves the state for a year or more, that absence does not count against the deadline (§ 15-3-30).

Statute: S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(6)

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: Three years from when the injured person knew, or with reasonable care should have known, that they had a claim over the product.

Exceptions that change it: The same disability rule applies: time spent under 18 or legally insane does not count, but the case must be filed within one year after that ends, and non-minority disabilities add at most five years (§ 15-3-40). A defendant's absence from the state for a year or more does not count against the deadline (§ 15-3-30).

Statute: S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(5), with discovery rule at § 15-3-535 (no product-specific limitation statute)

Claim against a government

2 years to file suit; 3 years if a verified claim was filed first

Deadline to put them on notice: 1 year from when the loss was or should have been discovered, but only if the claimant chooses to file. Section 15-78-80(a) says a verified claim 'may be filed,' and § 15-78-80(d) says 'If filed, the claim must be received within one year after the loss was or should have been discovered.' Filing is what buys the longer three-year suit deadline; the statutory text read does not make it a precondition to suing.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years from when the loss was or should have been discovered if no verified claim was filed; 3 years from that same date if a verified claim was filed first (§ 15-78-110).

When the clock starts: Every deadline runs from the date the loss was discovered, or the date it reasonably should have been discovered.

Exceptions that change it: Section 15-78-110 says its deadlines bend only for § 15-3-40, the disability rule: time spent under 18 or legally insane does not count against the claimant, but suit must still be filed within one year after that condition ends, and any disability other than being a minor can add at most five years. Section 15-3-40 names Chapter 78 by name, so it clearly covers government claims.

Statute: S.C. Code Ann. §§ 15-78-110 (limitations) and 15-78-80(d) (verified claim) , South Carolina Tort Claims Act

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years start running when your claim comes into existence, which is normally the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: If you were under 18 or mentally ill when you were hurt, § 15-2-22 says the time you were in that condition does not count against you, but the extension caps at five years for anything other than being a child, and in every case you get no more than one year after the condition ends. The statute also gives way to any other law that sets a different deadline for a specific kind of case, so a more specific statute wins.

Statute: S.D. Codified Laws § 15-2-14(3)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years run from the date the bad care actually happened. The wording is 'after the… malpractice… shall have occurred,' not after you found out about it, so on the face of the statute the clock can run out before you know you were hurt.

Statute: S.D. Codified Laws § 15-2-14.1

Wrongful death

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years start on the date the person died, not on the date of the accident or the date anyone learned what caused the death.

Statute: S.D. Codified Laws § 21-5-3

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years start on the later of two things: when the harm happened, or when you knew or reasonably should have known about it.

Statute: S.D. Codified Laws § 15-2-12.2

Claim against a government

Written notice within 180 days of the injury; the lawsuit itself runs on the ordinary deadline for that kind of claim (3 years for personal injury, 3 years for wrongful death)

Deadline to put them on notice: 180 days from the injury.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: Chapter 3-21 sets no separate suit deadline and expressly does not extend the ordinary one; the underlying limitation governs, 3 years for personal injury (§ 15-2-14(3)), 3 years for wrongful death (§ 21-5-3).

When the clock starts: The 180 days for the notice start on the date of the injury. The separate deadline for actually filing the lawsuit runs on its own normal schedule and is not paused while you handle the notice, so both clocks tick at the same time.

Exceptions that change it: If the injured person is a child or is mentally or physically unable to act, a court may allow the notice to be served within a reasonable time after that condition ends under § 3-21-4, but you have to ask the court for that extra time within two years of the event. Inaccuracies in the notice do not automatically kill the claim under § 3-21-5, as long as you were not trying to mislead and the government was not actually misled.

Statute: S.D. Codified Laws §§ 3-21-1, 3-21-2, 3-21-3, 3-21-4; suit deadline from § 15-2-14(3) and § 21-5-3

Personal injury (general negligence)

1 year

When the clock starts: The one year starts the day your claim arises, which is normally the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: If criminal charges are brought against the person who hurt you, and the criminal case starts within one year, and you are suing that same person, you get two years instead of one. The statute says this section must be read strictly, so do not count on informal extensions.

Statute: Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(A)

Medical malpractice

1 year, or 1 year from discovery of the injury if the injury was not discovered inside the first year

When the clock starts: The one year starts the day the bad care happened, or the day you found out you were hurt if you could not reasonably have known sooner.

Exceptions that change it: Two things break the three-year outer cutoff. If the provider hid what they did, you get one year from the day you discover it. If an object was left inside your body, you get one year from the day it is found or should have been found.

Absolute outer cutoff: 3 years from the date the negligent act or omission occurred.

Statute: Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-116(a)

Wrongful death

Not verified

This state does not set this deadline in a statute of its own, so we have left it blank rather than print a number we could not source. Do not assume the general injury deadline applies. Check with an attorney licensed in this state.

Defective product

1 year from the date of injury (the general personal-injury period), and in no event more than 6 years from the date of injury

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the date you were actually injured by the product, not on the date the product was made or sold. Section 28-3-104(b) says so directly: the claim accrues on the date of the personal injury, and no one can be cut off before they are actually hurt.

Exceptions that change it: A child injured by a product must sue within one year of turning 18, or by the ten-year cutoff, whichever comes first. Asbestos exposure claims and silicone gel breast implant claims are carved out of the ten-year cutoff, with breast implant claims capped at 25 years from implantation and 4 years from when the person knew or should have known of the injury.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years from the date the product was first purchased for use or consumption, or 1 year after the expiration of the product's anticipated life, whichever is shorter; no repose for asbestos exposure; 25 years for silicone gel breast implants.

Statute: Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-28-103; incorporating Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104

Claim against a government

12 months after the cause of action arises, for claims against a LOCAL government entity

Deadline to put them on notice: Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-20-305 imposes no pre-suit notice deadline for claims against local government entities; it refers to a claim being 'denied' but sets no time limit for presenting one.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 12 months after the cause of action arises (local government entities, under the Governmental Tort Liability Act).

When the clock starts: The twelve months start when your claim arises, which for an injury is normally the day you were hurt.

Statute: Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-20-305(b)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years start the day your claim arises, which is normally the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: If you were under 18 or of unsound mind when you were hurt, the clock does not run during that time (Sec. 16.001), so a child generally has two years from turning 18. You cannot stack one disability on top of another, and a disability that begins after the clock has already started does not pause it.

Statute: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a)

Medical malpractice

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years run from the day the bad care happened, or from the day the course of treatment or the hospital stay you are complaining about ended.

Exceptions that change it: A child hurt before age 12 has until his or her 14th birthday to sue. Otherwise the statute says being a minor or otherwise legally disabled does not extend the deadline. You must mail the doctor or provider written notice at least 60 days before filing, and giving that notice adds up to 75 extra days to the deadline (Sec. 74.051(a), (c)). No matter what, the outside cutoff is 10 years from the act or omission.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years from the act or omission.

Statute: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.251(a), (b)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years run from the date the injured person died, not from the date of the accident that killed them.

Exceptions that change it: If a person entitled to sue was under 18 or of unsound mind when the claim arose, that time does not count against the deadline (Sec. 16.001). If the death was caused by medical care, the health care deadlines in Sec. 74.251 apply instead, including the outside 10-year cutoff.

Statute: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(b)

Defective product

2 years (no separate product-liability limitations period; the general personal injury statute applies)

When the clock starts: The two-year deadline starts the day you were hurt by the product. The separate 15-year outside cutoff starts the day that defendant sold the product.

Exceptions that change it: If the maker or seller put in writing that the product is safe to use for longer than 15 years, you get that longer number of years instead. The 15-year cutoff also does not apply to injury or death claims where you were exposed to the product within 15 years of its first sale and that exposure caused the disease you are suing over. Being under 18 or of unsound mind pauses the two-year clock under Sec. 16.001.

Absolute outer cutoff: 15 years from the date the defendant sold the product.

Statute: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.012(b) (repose); Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) (general 2-year limitation)

Claim against a government

Notice within 6 months of the incident; suit within 2 years

Deadline to put them on notice: 6 months after the day the incident occurred (a city may require a shorter period by charter or ordinance).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years, from the general personal injury statute, Chapter 101 itself states no filing deadline.

When the clock starts: The six months for notice start the day the incident happened. The two years to file suit start the day your claim arises, normally the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: Cities are the trap here: subsection (b) lets a city set a shorter notice deadline in its own charter or ordinance, so a claim against a city can die months before the six-month state deadline. Look up that specific city's charter. Notice is excused entirely if the government already actually knew someone died, was injured, or had property damaged. Being under 18 or of unsound mind pauses the two-year suit clock under Sec. 16.001.

Statute: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.101(a), (b), (c); suit deadline from Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a)

Personal injury (general negligence)

4 years

When the clock starts: The clock generally starts on the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: If the injured person is under 18, or is mentally incompetent and has no legal guardian, the clock does not run during that time (§ 78B-2-108). If a lawsuit is filed on time but is thrown out for a reason other than the merits, a new one can sometimes be started within one year (§ 78B-2-111).

Statute: Utah Code § 78B-2-307(4) (residual clause); see also § 78B-2-307(3)

Medical malpractice

2 years from discovery of the injury

When the clock starts: The clock starts when you find out you were injured, or when a reasonably careful person in your shoes would have found out, whichever comes first.

Exceptions that change it: If a doctor left an object inside your body, you get one year from when you discover it. If the provider actively hid what they did, you get one year from when you discover the cover-up. Being under 18 or mentally incompetent without a guardian stops the clock (§ 78B-2-108).

Absolute outer cutoff: 4 years from the date of the act, omission, neglect, or occurrence.

Statute: Utah Code § 78B-3-404(1)-(2)

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the date the person died.

Exceptions that change it: If the person entitled to bring the claim is under 18, or is mentally incompetent with no legal guardian, the clock does not run during that time (§ 78B-2-108). A death caused by a government entity or its employee is subject to the much shorter government notice rules below.

Statute: Utah Code § 78B-2-304(3)

Defective product

2 years from discovery of both the harm and its cause

When the clock starts: The clock starts when you learn both that you were harmed and that a product caused it, or when a reasonably careful person would have learned both.

Exceptions that change it: Being under 18, or mentally incompetent with no legal guardian, stops the clock (§ 78B-2-108). There is no outer cutoff based on how old the product is.

Statute: Utah Code § 78B-6-706 (Utah Product Liability Act)

Claim against a government

Notice of claim within 1 year; lawsuit within 2 years

Deadline to put them on notice: 1 year after the claim arises.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years after the claim arises, and no earlier than 60 days after the notice of claim is filed.

When the clock starts: The clock starts when the claim arises, which § 63G-7-401(2) defines as the point when the ordinary deadline would start against a private person, but not before you knew, or reasonably should have known, both that you had a claim and who the government body or employee was.

Exceptions that change it: If the injured person is a minor or mentally incompetent and the court appoints a guardian, the one-year notice clock starts when that appointment order is issued. The government cannot object that a notice was late if you filed with the wrong entity in good faith and then refiled with the right one within 30 days. If a timely suit is dismissed for a reason other than the merits, a new one can be started within one year, but only once.

Statute: Utah Code §§ 63G-7-402, 63G-7-403(2), 63G-7-401(2) (Governmental Immunity Act of Utah)

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years run from the day you discover the injury, not necessarily the day the accident happened.

Exceptions that change it: If the injured person is a child, is unable to look after their own affairs because of a mental condition, or is in prison when the claim arises, the clock does not start until that situation ends (12 V.S.A. § 551). The discovery rule is written into the statute itself, so a hidden injury does not start the clock until it is found.

Statute: 12 V.S.A. § 512(4)

Medical malpractice

3 years from the date of the incident, or 2 years from the date the injury is or reasonably should have been discovered, whichever is later

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the date of the treatment or operation that caused the harm, but if you could not reasonably have known you were hurt, you get two years from when you found out or should have found out.

Exceptions that change it: There is a hard outer cutoff of seven years from the treatment date. Two things break that cutoff: if the provider hid the mistake from you, no time limit applies at all; and if something was left inside your body, you get two years from the day it is discovered. Minors, people who cannot look after their own affairs because of a mental condition, and people in prison get the clock paused under 12 V.S.A. § 551, which this section expressly preserves.

Absolute outer cutoff: 7 years from the date of the incident.

Statute: 12 V.S.A. § 521

Wrongful death

2 years from discovery of the death

When the clock starts: The two years run from when the death is discovered, and the case must be filed by the person officially appointed to represent the estate.

Exceptions that change it: If the person at fault is outside Vermont, the time they are away does not count against you. If there is enough evidence to charge someone with homicide, you get seven years from discovery of the death, or two years after the criminal case ends for good, whichever is later. If the death was caused by an intentional act amounting to murder, subsection (e) gives seven years from discovery of the death.

Statute: 14 V.S.A. § 1492(a)

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years run from the day you discover the injury the product caused.

Exceptions that change it: Minors, people unable to look after their own affairs because of a mental condition, and people in prison get the clock paused under 12 V.S.A. § 551. The discovery rule in the statute means a slow-developing injury does not start the clock until it is found.

Statute: 12 V.S.A. § 512(4)

Claim against a government

No deadline is stated in the Vermont Tort Claims Act itself; the general limits in 12 V.S.A. ch. 23 apply , 3 years for injury to a person, and 2 years for a claim against a town over a defective bridge or culvert

Deadline to put them on notice: The Vermont Tort Claims Act, 12 V.S.A. ch. 189, contains no notice-of-claim requirement. 24 V.S.A. § 901, the town-officer suit provision, also contains no notice requirement, and 19 V.S.A. § 985 (town liability for defective bridges and culverts) contains no notice requirement in its current text.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: State claims: 3 years for injury to a person under 12 V.S.A. § 512(4). Town/municipal claims over a defective bridge or culvert: 2 years under 12 V.S.A. § 514. These differ, so the state and town deadlines are not the same.

When the clock starts: For a claim against the state, the clock starts when you discover the injury, the same as any other injury claim. For a town bridge or culvert claim, it starts when the claim arises.

Exceptions that change it: The state's payout is capped at $500,000 per person and $2,000,000 total per incident (§ 5601(b)). A town's payout for a bad bridge or culvert is capped at $75,000, or the town's insurance limit if that is higher (19 V.S.A. § 985(a)). Several kinds of claims cannot be brought against the state at all, including discretionary decisions by officials, tax collection, and claims of assault, battery, fraud or misrepresentation (§ 5601(e)).

Statute: 12 V.S.A. §§ 5601-5606 (Vermont Tort Claims Act); 12 V.S.A. § 512; 12 V.S.A. § 514; 12 V.S.A. § 464; 24 V.S.A. § 901; 19 V.S.A. § 985

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the day you are actually hurt, not the day you figure out what caused it.

Exceptions that change it: If the injured person is a child or is legally incapacitated when the injury happens, the clock generally does not run while that lasts (Va. Code § 8.01-229(A)). Virginia normally rejects a 'you didn't know' delay, but there are narrow written exceptions in Va. Code § 8.01-249, including hidden injuries from a substance or product, asbestos illness, and fraud. Injuries from sexual abuse get much longer windows (10, 15, or 20 years) under Va. Code § 8.01-243(D), (D1), and (D2).

Statute: Va. Code § 8.01-243(A); accrual rule at Va. Code § 8.01-230

Medical malpractice

2 years, with limited extensions of 1 extra year in three specific situations

When the clock starts: The clock starts the day the harm happens, not the day you learn a doctor caused it.

Exceptions that change it: Three situations buy one extra year: a surgical item left inside the body, a provider hiding or lying about what happened, and a missed diagnosis of cancer or certain nerve tumors (the extra year runs from when the diagnosis is told to the patient). None of those can stretch the case past 10 years from when the harm happened, except for someone who is legally unable to act for themselves.

Statute: Va. Code § 8.01-243(A) and (C); minors at Va. Code § 8.01-243.1

Wrongful death

2 years from the date of death

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the date the person died, not the date they were injured.

Exceptions that change it: Only the person officially appointed to represent the estate can file. If a case is filed in time and then thrown out without a decision on the merits, the time it was pending does not count against the two years. A voluntary dismissal by the plaintiff is handled separately under Va. Code § 8.01-229(E)(3) rather than by this rule.

Statute: Va. Code § 8.01-244(B) (action created by Va. Code § 8.01-50)

Defective product

2 years (no separate product-liability limitation period; it falls under the general personal injury statute)

When the clock starts: The clock starts the day the product hurts you. For a few specific kinds of harm the law instead starts it when you learn of the injury and its link to the product.

Exceptions that change it: Va. Code § 8.01-249 shifts the starting point in named situations: asbestos illness starts when a doctor tells you the diagnosis; a hidden injury from a substance or product starts when you knew or should have known of the injury and its cause; breast implant claims start when a doctor tells you; and other implanted medical device claims start when you knew or should have known. Children and people legally unable to act for themselves get the pause in Va. Code § 8.01-229(A).

Statute: Va. Code § 8.01-243(A); accrual exceptions at Va. Code § 8.01-249(4), (4a), (7), (9)

Claim against a government

State: written notice within 1 year, then suit within 18 months of that notice or within 2 years of when the claim arose. City, county, or town: written notice within 6 months, then the general 2-year deadline to sue.

Deadline to put them on notice: Claims against the Commonwealth or a transportation district: written notice within 1 year after the claim arises.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: Commonwealth and transportation districts: suit is barred unless commenced within 18 months of filing the notice of claim, or within two years after the claim arose (Va. Code § 8.01-195.7). Suit also cannot start until the claim is denied or six months have passed since the notice was filed. Counties, cities, and towns: Va. Code § 15.2-209 sets NO separate deadline to sue; it governs the notice only, so the general two-year personal injury period in Va. Code § 8.01-243(A) governs the filing of the suit.

When the clock starts: Both notice clocks start when the claim arises, which for an injury is the day you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: If the injured person was a child or legally unable to act when the claim arose, the pause rules in Va. Code § 8.01-229 apply to both the state and the local notice periods.

Statute: Va. Code §§ 8.01-195.6 and 8.01-195.7 (Commonwealth and transportation districts); Va. Code § 15.2-209 (counties, cities, and towns)

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years generally run from the date you were hurt.

Exceptions that change it: If you were under 18 when you were hurt, or you could not understand what was happening because of a disability, or you were locked up on a criminal charge before sentencing, that time does not count against your three years (RCW 4.16.190). Claims based on fraud do not start counting until you discover the facts behind the fraud (RCW 4.16.080(4)).

Statute: RCW 4.16.080(2)

Medical malpractice

3 years from the act or omission, or 1 year from when the patient discovered or reasonably should have discovered that the injury was caused by that act or omission, whichever is later

When the clock starts: The three years run from the date of the treatment that caused the harm; the one-year alternative runs from the day you found out, or reasonably should have found out, that the treatment caused the harm.

Exceptions that change it: If the provider lied to you, hid what happened, or left an object inside you, the clock stops until you actually learn about it, and then you have one year. For a child, the statute says a parent's or guardian's knowledge counts as the child's knowledge, so being a minor does not automatically extend this deadline the way it does for other injury claims.

Absolute outer cutoff: 8 years from the act or omission (absolute outer limit).

Statute: RCW 4.16.350

Wrongful death

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years generally run from the date of death.

Exceptions that change it: The same pause applies for a beneficiary who was under 18, or who could not understand the proceedings because of a disability, at the time the claim arose (RCW 4.16.190). If the death was caused by medical treatment, the separate medical rules in RCW 4.16.350 apply instead, including the eight-year hard cutoff.

Statute: RCW 4.16.080(2) (limitation period); RCW 4.20.010 (right of action)

Defective product

3 years from when the claimant discovered, or with due diligence should have discovered, the harm and its cause

When the clock starts: The three years start when you found out, or reasonably should have found out, both that you were harmed and what caused it.

Exceptions that change it: The tolling rules in chapter 4.16 still apply, including the pause for someone under 18 or unable to understand the proceedings (RCW 4.16.190). The 12-year presumption can be beaten if the seller promised the product was safe for longer, if the seller intentionally lied about or hid facts, or if you were first exposed to the defective product while it was still within its safe life even though the harm showed up later.

Absolute outer cutoff: No absolute bar, but a rebuttable presumption: harm occurring more than 12 years after delivery of the product is presumed to have occurred after the product's 'useful safe life' expired (RCW 7.72.060(1)-(2)).

Statute: RCW 7.72.060(3) (limitation); RCW 7.72.060(1)-(2) (useful safe life / 12-year presumption)

Claim against a government

Present the written claim first, then wait 60 calendar days, then sue within the underlying limitations period (3 years for ordinary injury) as extended by that 60-day pause

Deadline to put them on notice: LOCAL government (city, county, school district, etc.): the claim form must be presented to the entity's designated agent within the same limitations period that applies to the underlying case (so 3 years for an ordinary injury claim) – RCW 4.96.020(2). STATE government: RCW 4.92.100 requires the claim to be presented to the Office of Risk Management but its text states no separate presentment deadline; in practice the claim must be presented and the 60-day wait completed before the underlying limitations period runs out.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: You cannot file suit until 60 calendar days after the claim was presented, and the underlying limitations period is paused during those 60 days. A suit filed within 5 court days after the 60-day period ends is treated as filed on the first day after the period elapsed. State: RCW 4.92.110. Local: RCW 4.96.020(4).

When the clock starts: The underlying deadline starts the same day it would for any injury claim, usually the day you were hurt. The 60-day waiting period starts the day the government actually receives your claim form.

Exceptions that change it: Both statutes say they must be read generously, so substantially complying with the form and procedure counts as good enough. If the government's own claim form leaves out required information or names the wrong person to receive it, the government loses the right to complain about that. A local government that fails to appoint and record a claims agent cannot use this chapter as a defense at all.

Statute: RCW 4.92.100 and RCW 4.92.110 (state); RCW 4.96.020(2) and (4) (local)

Personal injury (general negligence)

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years usually starts on the day you were hurt, which is when the law says your right to sue came into existence.

Exceptions that change it: West Virginia courts apply a discovery rule, so if you could not reasonably have known you were hurt or who hurt you, the clock can start later. Separate West Virginia statutes pause the deadline for people who are under 18 or mentally incapacitated when the injury happens.

Statute: W. Va. Code § 55-2-12

Medical malpractice

2 years (1 year for nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and skilled/intermediate nursing units of acute care hospitals)

When the clock starts: The clock starts on the date you were harmed, or on the date you found out (or reasonably should have found out) that you were harmed, whichever is later.

Exceptions that change it: If the patient was a child under 10 when the harm happened, the case must be filed within two years of the injury or before the child's 12th birthday, whichever gives more time. The deadline is paused for any period the provider hid or lied about material facts. No matter what, nothing can be filed more than 10 years after the harm.

Absolute outer cutoff: 10 years from the date of medical injury.

Statute: W. Va. Code § 55-7B-4

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years starts on the date the person died, not on the date of the accident or the date the illness began.

Statute: W. Va. Code § 55-7-6(d)

Defective product

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years generally starts when the defective product injured you.

Exceptions that change it: Same as other injury cases: the discovery rule can push the start date later if the injury or its cause was not reasonably knowable, and the deadline is paused for children under 18 and people who are mentally incapacitated.

Statute: W. Va. Code § 55-2-12

Claim against a government

2 years to sue a city, county, or other local government; 30 days advance written notice required before suing a state agency

Deadline to put them on notice: State agencies: written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the agency's chief officer AND the Attorney General at least 30 days BEFORE filing suit (W. Va. Code § 55-17-3(a)(1)). Local governments (political subdivisions): no pre-suit notice-of-claim requirement appears in W. Va. Code § 29-12A-6. Claims against the State itself go to the West Virginia Legislative Claims Commission, and notice must be filed with its clerk within the same time limit that would apply if the defendant were a private party (W. Va. Code § 14-2-21).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 2 years after the claim arose or after the injury, death, or loss was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered, whichever is later (W. Va. Code § 29-12A-6(a)).

When the clock starts: For a local government, the two years starts when the claim arose or when you discovered (or reasonably should have discovered) the injury, death, or loss, whichever is later. For a state agency, you must mail the 30-day warning letter before you can file at all.

Exceptions that change it: If the injured person was a child under 10, the case must be filed within two years or before the child's 12th birthday, whichever gives more time. The deadline is paused for any period the local government or its representative hid or misrepresented material facts about the injury. Mailing the required 30-day notice to a state agency pauses the applicable deadline for 30 days from mailing, and for another 30 days from the date the return receipt is signed.

Statute: W. Va. Code § 29-12A-6 (local government suit deadline); W. Va. Code § 55-17-3 (30-day pre-suit notice to state agencies); W. Va. Code § 14-2-21 (Claims Commission filing period)

Personal injury (general negligence)

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years starts when the claim accrues, which Wisconsin courts treat as the date you were injured, or the date you discovered (or should reasonably have discovered) the injury, its nature, its cause, and who caused it, whichever is later.

Exceptions that change it: Wisconsin applies a discovery rule, so the clock can start later if the injury or its cause was not reasonably knowable. Wis. Stat. § 893.16 pauses the deadline for people who are under 18 or mentally ill when the claim accrues. Note that a claim for a lawyer's malpractice is NOT an injury-to-the-person claim under this section.

Statute: Wis. Stat. § 893.54(1m)(a)

Medical malpractice

The later of 3 years from the date of injury, or 1 year from discovery

When the clock starts: Three years from the day the treatment or omission actually harmed you, or one year from the day you found out (or should have found out) about the harm, whichever gives you more time.

Exceptions that change it: If the provider hid an earlier mistake from you, you get one year from the day you discovered the cover-up, or the normal deadline, whichever is later. If a foreign object with no medical purpose was left inside you, you get one year from when you knew or should have known it was there, or the normal deadline, whichever is later. Wis. Stat. § 893.16 pauses the three-year clock for people under 18 or mentally ill, adding up to five extra years. Asking for mediation under Wis. Stat. § 655.44(4) pauses both clocks.

Absolute outer cutoff: 5 years from the date of the act or omission, but only for claims filed under the 1-year discovery route.

Statute: Wis. Stat. § 893.55(1m), (2), (3)

Wrongful death

3 years; 2 years if the death arose from a motor vehicle accident

When the clock starts: The clock starts when the claim accrues. Wisconsin's high court has said a wrongful death claim accrues on the date the family member discovers, or with reasonable care should discover, the injury, whichever comes first.

Exceptions that change it: The deadline drops to TWO years when the death came out of a motor vehicle accident, and courts read 'involving a motor vehicle' broadly, including a tractor-trailer combination. If the death was caused by medical malpractice, the medical malpractice deadlines in Wis. Stat. § 893.55 govern instead of this section.

Statute: Wis. Stat. § 893.54(1m)(b) and § 893.54(2m)

Defective product

3 years

When the clock starts: The three years starts when the claim accrues, which is when the defective product caused you a harm you knew about or reasonably should have known about.

Exceptions that change it: The 15-year cutoff does NOT apply if the maker specifically promised the product would last longer than 15 years, and it does NOT apply to claims for a slow-developing disease such as an asbestos illness. By its own subsection (6), the 15-year cutoff also does not reach claims based on ordinary carelessness or on breach of warranty, only claims of strict product liability.

Absolute outer cutoff: 15 years from the date the product was manufactured (strict-liability claims only).

Statute: Wis. Stat. § 893.54(1m)(a) (limitation period); Wis. Stat. § 895.047(5) (repose)

Claim against a government

Notice within 120 days for both state and local claims; then 6 months to sue a local government after the claim is denied

Deadline to put them on notice: LOCAL (cities, counties, towns, school districts, other political corporations and their employees): written notice of the circumstances of the claim served within 120 days after the event, plus a separate itemized claim presented to the clerk (Wis. Stat. § 893.80(1d)). STATE officers, employees, and agents: sworn written notice served on the Attorney General within 120 days of the event, by personal service or certified mail (Wis. Stat. § 893.82(3), (5)).

Deadline to file the lawsuit: LOCAL: no suit more than 6 months after the date the notice of disallowance was served; if the local body does not act on the claim within 120 days of presentation, that silence counts as a denial and starts the 6 months (Wis. Stat. § 893.80(1g)). STATE: the statute sets no separate post-notice suit deadline, so the underlying limitation period applies, which is 3 years for injury to the person under Wis. Stat. § 893.54(1m)(a).

When the clock starts: The 120 days starts on the day the event that hurt you happened. For a local government, the six-month suit clock starts on the day the denial letter is served on you, or on the 120th day after you presented your claim if nobody ever answered it.

Exceptions that change it: LOCAL: missing the 120-day notice does not automatically kill the claim if the local government actually knew about it and you show the court the late notice did not hurt their defense. For a claim about a negligent inspection, the notice period is one year from discovery of the negligent act. Medical malpractice claims are carved out entirely and run on the medical malpractice clocks in Wis. Stat. § 893.55. STATE: the 120-day notice rule is applied strictly.

Statute: Wis. Stat. § 893.80 (local government); Wis. Stat. § 893.82 (state officers, employees, and agents)

Personal injury (general negligence)

4 years

When the clock starts: The four years starts when the claim accrues, which is normally the day you were hurt.

Statute: Wyo. Stat. § 1-3-105(a)(iv)(C)

Medical malpractice

2 years, or 2 years from discovery if the harm was not reasonably discoverable

When the clock starts: Two years from the date of the mistake. If you can prove the mistake could not reasonably have been found in that window, and you were diligent, you instead get two years from the day you found it.

Exceptions that change it: A child harmed by a provider has until his or her eighth birthday, or two years from the mistake, whichever is longer, with the same discovery extension. A person under a legal disability other than being a child gets one year from the day the disability ends. If you discover the mistake during the SECOND year of the normal two-year window, you get an extra six months.

Statute: Wyo. Stat. § 1-3-107

Wrongful death

2 years

When the clock starts: The two years starts on the date the person died, not the date of the accident or the first sign of illness.

Exceptions that change it: The case must be filed by the court-appointed wrongful death representative, so that appointment has to happen inside the two years. If the death was caused by a government entity or a public employee, the separate government claim deadlines apply and are shorter in effect.

Statute: Wyo. Stat. § 1-38-102(d)

Defective product

4 years

When the clock starts: The four years starts when the claim accrues, which is normally when the defective product injured you.

Exceptions that change it: Same as other Wyoming injury cases: a discovery rule can push the start date later, and tolling rules exist for children and people under a legal disability. A claim framed as breach of a written contract or warranty may run on a different, longer clock under subsection (a)(i) or (a)(ii) of this same statute.

Statute: Wyo. Stat. § 1-3-105(a)(iv)(C)

Claim against a government

File a sworn itemized claim within 2 years of the act, then sue within 1 year of filing that claim

Deadline to put them on notice: 2 years from the date of the alleged act, error, or omission to present a written itemized claim, signed by the claimant under oath and notarized. Claims against the STATE go to the general services division of the Department of Administration and Information.

Deadline to file the lawsuit: 1 year after the date the claim was filed under § 1-39-113, and never longer than whatever other limitation period would otherwise apply (Wyo. Stat. § 1-39-114).

When the clock starts: The two years to file the claim starts on the date of the act or omission that hurt you. The one year to file the lawsuit starts on the date you filed that claim, not on the date the government answers it.

Exceptions that change it: If you can prove the harm was not reasonably discoverable within two years and you were diligent, you get two years from the day you discovered it. A child aged seven or younger must sue within two years of the event or by his or her eighth birthday, whichever is longer. The suit deadline can never be LONGER than whatever ordinary limitation period would apply to the same claim.

Statute: Wyo. Stat. § 1-39-113 (claims procedure); Wyo. Stat. § 1-39-114 (statute of limitations)