Filing deadlines: statutes of limitations and repose

The four rules

1. The limitations period

The main deadline. It usually runs from the date of the injury, or from the date the injury was or should have been discovered.

2. The statute of repose

An outer deadline measured from the date of the medical care. It is not affected by when you found out.

This is the rule that catches people. A state can have a long discovery rule and a shorter repose period, and the repose period wins. It can end a claim before the shorter clock has even started running.

3. Minor tolling

Most states pause or extend the clock for children in some way. The rules differ a great deal.

Some states give a child until a set age. Some give a fixed period after they turn 18. Some pause the clock only up to a certain age. Some medical malpractice statutes limit tolling for minors more tightly than the general rule, which surprises families who read the general rule first.

Do not assume a child's deadline is long. In several states it is much shorter than people expect.

4. The discovery rule

A rule that starts the clock when you found out, or reasonably should have found out, about the injury and its cause.

It sounds like it solves everything. It usually does not, because a statute of repose can still apply, and because "should have known" is judged by what a reasonable person would have realized rather than by when you actually understood.

Two more things that change the answer

The parent's own claim is separate

A mother who was injured herself has her own claim. It usually runs on the adult clock, not the child's.

That means a family can have two different deadlines from the same birth: a longer one for the child and a shorter one for the mother. Families frequently lose the mother's claim by assuming both share the child's timeline.

Public and government hospitals

If the care was at a state hospital, a county facility, a military hospital or a federally supported health center, different rules often apply.

These commonly include a formal notice of claim within a short window, sometimes measured in months, and a different filing deadline afterward. Missing the notice period can end the claim even where the ordinary deadline is years away.

If you do not know whether a hospital is public, ask a lawyer to check. It is not always obvious from the name.

Other requirements before filing

Several states require steps before a case can be filed.

A certificate or affidavit of merit, meaning a written opinion from a qualified expert that the claim has a basis. Getting one takes time, because an expert has to review the records first.

Pre-suit notice, giving the provider a period of notice before filing.

A pre-suit screening panel in some states.

All of these take months. That is why "the deadline is three years" does not mean you have three years to think about it. The practical deadline for contacting a lawyer is considerably earlier.

Florida and Virginia

Both states have a no-fault program for a narrow category of severe birth injury, and where a claim is covered, the program is generally the exclusive remedy. ^{2 3}

Each program has its own filing deadline, measured from the birth, and it is not the same as the civil deadline. ^{4 5}

If you are in either state, this needs an attorney licensed there, and early. See Florida NICA and the Virginia birth injury fund.

What this site can and cannot tell you

The statute of limitations lookup shows, for each state, the statute citation for the medical malpractice limitations period and the minor tolling provision where we could tie it to the state's own published code, along with the date we last checked.

It does not calculate your deadline. That is deliberate. A countdown would be advice, and it would be wrong often enough to cause real harm.

Where we could not verify a state's provision against the state's own published code during this build, the tool says so rather than guessing. Those gaps are listed in the sources policy.

Statutes change. Legislatures amend these provisions, and courts interpret them. A citation that was correct last year may not be now.

Only a lawyer licensed in your state can tell you your deadline. That is not a disclaimer for its own sake. Deadlines turn on facts specific to your case: which providers, which facilities, when you knew what, and which of the four rules applies first.

What to do

1. Find out roughly what your state's rules are. Use the statute of limitations lookup as a starting point, not an answer.
2. Work out whether any facility was public. That can shorten everything dramatically.
3. Note the mother's own claim separately.
4. Get the records now. Nothing can be assessed without them, and requesting them takes weeks. ⁶
5. Talk to an attorney licensed in your state, sooner than the deadline suggests, because of the expert review and pre-suit requirements.
6. Ask the attorney to confirm the deadline in writing.

You can find licensed attorneys through your state bar association, which every state has. ¹ See how to find and evaluate a birth injury attorney, which explains how to evaluate one without recommending anyone.