The deadline for filing a lawsuit depends on the facts surrounding your case. In California, statues of limitations have been set for several types of personal injury lawsuits. If you miss the deadline that applies to your case and you try to file suit, your case will almost certainly be dismissed.
The statute of limitations is usually two years from the date of injury for personal injury cases, or one year from the date the cause of action was discovered or should have been discovered through reasonable diligence. The statute of limitations for most wrongful death lawsuits is also two years, but no deadline applies to wrongful death cases involving murder.
A three-year statute of limitations applies to most property damage lawsuits. Most medical malpractice lawsuits also must be filed within three years of the date the cause of action accrued or the date it should have been discovered. In cases involving a foreign object left inside the body, the patient has one year from the date the object was discovered to file suit.
If you intend to sue a government entity, you must file an administrative claim within six months, or one year in some cases, of the accident. If your claim is denied and you receive a rejection letter, you’ll have six months from the date the letter was personally delivered or mailed to file suit. If such a letter was not received, the lawsuit deadline is two years from the date the cause of action accrued.
There are several factors that may cause the statute of limitations to be “tolled,” or delayed. Those factors include:
- The victim was a minor, in which case the statute of limitations does not start running until he or she turns 18;
- The injured party was mentally incompetent at the time of the accident; or
- Bankruptcy was filed and an automatic stay was put on legal proceedings.
