All 50 States, Cited to Primary Source

Personal Injury Statute of Limitations by State

How long do you have to file a personal injury lawsuit? Search the table by state, filter by deadline length, and click through to the controlling statute. Every row is verified against the official state source.

Updated 2026-05-22 · See comparative negligence rules by state · Open-data JSON feed

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At a glance

Jurisdictions covered
51 (50 states + DC)
Shortest deadline
1 year (Kentucky, Tennessee)
Longest deadline
6 years (Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota)
Most common deadline
2 years (25 jurisdictions)
Source standard
Primary (state code or court opinion)
Last verified
2026-05-22

Browse by deadline length:

Showing 51 of 51 states

Details
Alabama2 yearsDetails →
Alaska2 yearsDetails →
Arizona2 yearsDetails →
Arkansas3 yearsDetails →
California2 yearsDetails →
Colorado2 yearsDetails →
Connecticut2 yearsDetails →
Delaware2 yearsDetails →
District of Columbia3 yearsDetails →
Florida2 yearsDetails →
Georgia2 yearsDetails →
Hawaii2 yearsDetails →
Idaho2 yearsDetails →
Illinois2 yearsDetails →
Indiana2 yearsDetails →
Iowa2 yearsDetails →
Kansas2 yearsDetails →
Kentucky1 yearDetails →
Louisiana2 yearsDetails →
Maine6 yearsDetails →
Maryland3 yearsDetails →
Massachusetts3 yearsDetails →
Michigan3 yearsDetails →
Minnesota6 yearsDetails →
Mississippi3 yearsDetails →
Missouri5 yearsDetails →
Montana3 yearsDetails →
Nebraska4 yearsDetails →
Nevada2 yearsDetails →
New Hampshire3 yearsDetails →
New Jersey2 yearsDetails →
New Mexico3 yearsDetails →
New York3 yearsDetails →
North Carolina3 yearsDetails →
North Dakota6 yearsDetails →
Ohio2 yearsDetails →
Oklahoma2 yearsDetails →
Oregon2 yearsDetails →
Pennsylvania2 yearsDetails →
Rhode Island3 yearsDetails →
South Carolina3 yearsDetails →
South Dakota3 yearsDetails →
Tennessee1 yearDetails →
Texas2 yearsDetails →
Utah4 yearsDetails →
Vermont3 yearsDetails →
Virginia2 yearsDetails →
Washington3 yearsDetails →
West Virginia2 yearsDetails →
Wisconsin3 yearsDetails →
Wyoming4 yearsDetails →

Cite this data

SetCalc. "Personal Injury Statute of Limitations by State." Updated 2026-05-22. https://setcalc.com/personal-injury-statute-of-limitations. Accessed 2026-05-23.

This page is informational and does not constitute legal advice. Deadlines can be shortened by special notice requirements (government claims, medical malpractice, intentional torts) or extended by exceptions (discovery rule, minor tolling, fraudulent concealment). Confirm the controlling rule with a licensed attorney before relying on it.

Developers: the full dataset is available as a Schema.org Dataset JSON-LD feed at https://setcalc.com/api/legal-rules/statute-of-limitations.json under CC BY 4.0. CORS enabled; edge-cached one hour with 24-hour stale-while-revalidate.

Recent rule changes

Dated timeline of statutory and judicial changes that affect either the personal injury statute of limitations or the comparative negligence rule in at least one US jurisdiction.

  1. Louisiana comparative negligence rule changed

    Louisiana switched from pure comparative fault to a 51% bar under Act 15 of 2025 (HB 431). Accidents on or after January 1, 2026 are barred from recovery when claimant fault exceeds 50%.

  2. Louisiana PI statute of limitations extended

    Louisiana extended the personal injury prescriptive period from one year to two years under Act 423 (HB 315), codified at La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1. Applies to injuries on or after July 1, 2024; earlier injuries remain on the one-year period.

  3. Maine wrongful death deadline extended

    Maine's wrongful death deadline was extended from two years to three years effective 2023 under amendment to 18-C M.R.S. § 2-807.

  4. Florida PI statute of limitations cut in half

    Florida cut the general negligence statute of limitations from four years to two years effective March 24, 2023 under House Bill 837, codified at Fla. Stat. § 95.11(4)(a).

  5. Florida comparative negligence rule changed

    Florida switched from pure comparative to a 51% bar effective March 24, 2023 under House Bill 837. Medical-negligence cases were excluded and remain under pure comparative principles.

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Statute of Limitations FAQ

What is a statute of limitations for personal injury?

A statute of limitations is the legal deadline for filing a lawsuit. If you do not file within the deadline that applies in your state, the court will almost always dismiss the case regardless of how strong the evidence is. Personal injury deadlines are set by state law and typically run from the date the injury occurred, though some states use a discovery rule that delays the clock until the injury was, or reasonably should have been, discovered.

How long do I have to file a personal injury lawsuit?

It depends on the state. Most states give two or three years from the date of injury. A handful are longer, and a few special categories (medical malpractice, claims against the government) have much shorter notice or filing deadlines that run separately from the general personal injury statute. Use the table on this page to find the controlling statute in your state.

Is the wrongful death deadline the same as the personal injury deadline?

Usually but not always. Many states apply the same number of years to wrongful death as to personal injury, but the clock typically starts on the date of death rather than the date of injury, and a few states have a separate wrongful death statute with a different deadline. Each row in the table shows the wrongful death statute and citation when it differs.

What happens if I miss the statute of limitations?

The court will dismiss the lawsuit on motion by the defendant, regardless of the merits. There are limited exceptions, including the discovery rule, tolling for minors and people with legal disabilities, and tolling while a defendant is out of state. None of these exceptions are automatic. If you think your deadline has passed, talk to a personal injury attorney before assuming the case is dead, because the controlling rule depends on facts specific to your situation.

Why do deadlines vary so much between states?

Statutes of limitations are set by state legislatures, so each state strikes its own balance between giving injured people enough time to investigate and sue, and protecting defendants from stale claims. Some states have shortened deadlines in recent years as part of tort reform. Florida cut its general negligence deadline from four years to two in 2023 (HB 837), which is why claims accruing on or after March 24, 2023 follow the new rule.

Where does this data come from?

Every row in the table links to the primary statute or controlling court decision. We do not summarize commentary or law-firm articles. Each entry shows the date we last verified the citation against the official state source. This page is informational and does not constitute legal advice.

Currently covering 51 states. We are adding the remaining states as each row is verified against the controlling primary source.

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