Statute of Limitations Calculator
Enter your injury date and state to see the commonly cited filing deadline for an ordinary personal injury claim.
How this calculator works
The calculator adds the state's commonly cited general-negligence limitations period — the same figures from our statute of limitations by state guide — to the date you enter. That is the deadline for filing an ordinary negligence lawsuit in most cases, and it is only a starting point:
- Government claims run on a separate, far shorter notice deadline that this calculator does not estimate — see the warning above if a public entity is involved.
- The discovery rule can start the clock later than your injury date for injuries that were not immediately apparent.
- Tolling for minors or incapacity can pause the clock entirely.
- Different claim types — medical malpractice, product liability, wrongful death — often run on a different period than ordinary negligence, sometimes with an added statute of repose.
None of these can be estimated responsibly without knowing the specifics of your case. Use the date shown as a reason to act early, not as confirmation that you have more time than you do.
Once you know your deadline, the next question is usually value. Our injury settlement calculator gives a rough, educational estimate from your medical bills, lost income and injury severity, and our comparative fault calculator shows what shared fault does to that estimate under your state's rule.
Frequently Asked Questions
How accurate is this deadline calculator?
It applies the commonly cited general-negligence limitations period for the state you select to your injury date — the same starting-point figures used in our full statute of limitations guide. It does not know about tolling for minors or incapacity, the discovery rule, statutes of repose, or claim-type variations (medical malpractice, product liability). Treat the date shown as a rough reference to confirm with a licensed attorney, not a deadline to rely on directly.
Why doesn’t this calculate government claim deadlines?
Because they vary too much to estimate responsibly. Claims against a city, county, state agency, public school or transit authority are usually governed by a separate, much shorter administrative notice deadline — often six months, and sometimes as little as 30 to 90 days — and the exact period depends on the specific government entity and state. If a government entity may be involved, treat the deadline as urgent and contact an attorney immediately rather than waiting on any calculated date.
What if I didn’t discover the injury on the date of the accident?
Many states apply a "discovery rule" that starts the clock when the injury was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered, rather than on the date of the incident — common for latent injuries like toxic exposure or a retained surgical instrument. This calculator always uses the date you enter as the start date. See our full guide for how the discovery rule works.
Why does it ask whether this was a motor vehicle accident?
Two states in this calculator use a different general-negligence period specifically for motor vehicle claims: Colorado (3 years instead of 2) and Kentucky (2 years instead of 1). For every other state, this choice does not change the result.