California Statute of Limitations
Last reviewed ยท written from the California codes read in the Legislative Counsel bulk data
How long you have to file a lawsuit in California, by type of case, with the section of the code that sets each deadline so you can read the law yourself.
In California you have two years to sue for a personal injury, four years on a written contract, two years on an oral one, and three years for damage to property. Medical malpractice is the strictest: one year from the day you discovered the harm, and never more than three years from the injury itself. If the party you want to sue is a city, a county, a school district, the state or any other public entity, none of those periods is your real deadline: you must first present a written claim within six months, and that clock starts at the injury.
The Deadlines, and the Section That Sets Each One
Every period below was read in the text of the California code itself, published by the Office of Legislative Counsel, rather than taken from a summary. The section number is next to each figure so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
| Type of case | Deadline | The law |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury, assault, battery, wrongful death | 2 years | Code Civ. Proc. 335.1 |
| Written contract | 4 years | Code Civ. Proc. 337(a) |
| Oral contract | 2 years | Code Civ. Proc. 339(1) |
| Injury to real property, taking or damaging goods | 3 years | Code Civ. Proc. 338(b), (c) |
| Medical malpractice | 1 year from discovery, 3 years absolute | Code Civ. Proc. 340.5 |
| Anything with no period of its own | 4 years | Code Civ. Proc. 343 |
| Claim against a public entity | 6 months to present the claim | Gov. Code 911.2(a) |
Seven of the periods California publishes, each read in the code. This page does not cover fraud, defamation, products liability or claims under a specific statutory scheme, because those were not read and we do not publish a filing deadline we have not checked.
Source: the California codes as published by the Office of Legislative Counsel, read on 8 October 2026. Updated 2026.
The Deadline That Catches People Out: Suing a Public Body
This is the part most summaries leave until the end, and it is the one that ends claims. If the defendant is a public entity, a city, a county, a school district, a transit authority, a public hospital or the state itself, the two year injury period is not your deadline. Before you can sue at all you must present a written claim to that entity, and Government Code section 911.2(a) gives you six months from the day the cause of action accrued for a claim about death, injury to a person, or damage to personal property. A claim about anything else gets one year.
Miss that six month window and the lawsuit is ordinarily barred even though the two year period under section 335.1 has barely started to run. If the entity rejects your claim and gives you written notice of the rejection, Government Code section 945.6(a)(1) then gives you six months from that notice to file the suit itself.
And minority does not pause it. Code of Civil Procedure section 352(a) stops the clock while an injured person is under the age of majority or lacks the legal capacity to make decisions. But subsection (b) says that section does not apply to an action against a public entity or public employee where a claim has to be presented first. So a child injured by a public body is on the same six month timetable as an adult, which is the opposite of what most people assume.
When the Clock Starts
The period almost always runs from the day the cause of action accrued, which for an injury is normally the day it happened and for a contract is the day it was broken. Two things move that date.
The first is the discovery rule. Where the harm could not reasonably have been known at the time, the clock can start when it was discovered or should have been discovered. California writes this into the medical malpractice section directly: under Code of Civil Procedure section 340.5 the period is three years from the injury or one year from discovery, whichever comes first, so discovery can only ever shorten the outer limit, never extend it beyond three years.
The second is a disability. Under section 352(a), if the person entitled to sue was under the age of majority or lacked the legal capacity to make decisions when the cause of action accrued, the time of that disability is not counted against them. The exception for public entity claims described above applies here too.
What This Page Does Not Tell You
A filing deadline is the one figure on a site like this that can cost somebody their case outright, so we would rather show you the edge of what we checked than fill the gaps with plausible numbers.
We did not read the California sections on fraud, defamation, products liability, claims against an estate, or the deadlines inside specific statutory schemes such as employment or construction defect, so none of those appear above. We also do not tell you whether your particular facts restart, pause or shorten any of these periods, because that depends on the case and frequently on case law rather than the statute. What we can tell you is where the law is: the sections named on this page are in the Code of Civil Procedure and the Government Code, and both are published in full by the state.
California Deadline Questions
How long do I have to sue for a personal injury in California?
Two years from the injury. Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 sets a two year period for an action for assault, battery, or injury to, or for the death of, an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another. The main thing that changes it is the identity of the defendant: if it is a public entity you must present a written claim within six months first.
How long do I have to sue on a contract in California?
Four years if the contract is in writing, under Code of Civil Procedure section 337(a), which covers an action upon any contract, obligation or liability founded upon an instrument in writing. An oral contract gets two years under section 339(1), which covers a contract, obligation or liability not founded upon an instrument of writing. The clock normally runs from the breach.
What is the medical malpractice deadline in California?
One year from discovery, with a three year ceiling. Code of Civil Procedure section 340.5 says the action must be brought three years after the date of injury or one year after the plaintiff discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury, whichever occurs first. Because it is whichever occurs first, discovering the harm late does not buy you more than three years from the injury itself.
Is the deadline shorter if I am suing a city or the state?
Far shorter, and it is a different kind of deadline. Government Code section 911.2(a) requires a written claim to be presented to the public entity within six months of the cause of action accruing for death, personal injury or damage to personal property, and within one year for anything else. The claim comes before the lawsuit. If the entity rejects it in writing, section 945.6(a)(1) gives you six months from that notice to file suit.
Does being a minor pause the California deadline?
Usually yes, with one important exception. Code of Civil Procedure section 352(a) excludes the time of the disability where the person was under the age of majority or lacked the legal capacity to make decisions when the claim accrued. Subsection (b) then removes that protection for claims against a public entity or public employee that require a claim to be presented, so a child hurt by a public body faces the same six month claim deadline as an adult.
How long do I have to sue for damage to my property in California?
Three years. Code of Civil Procedure section 338 lists, within three years, an action for trespass upon or injury to real property, and an action for taking, detaining, or injuring goods or chattels, including an action for the specific recovery of personal property.
What happens if there is no specific deadline for my type of case?
California has a catch all. Code of Civil Procedure section 343 says an action for relief not hereinbefore provided for must be commenced within four years after the cause of action shall have accrued. That is the fallback, not a guess: if your claim is not in one of the listed categories, four years is the period the code assigns it.
What happens if I miss the deadline?
The claim is ordinarily barred, which means the court will not hear it however strong it is. That is why the deadline matters more than almost any other number on this site, and why we publish only the periods we have read in the code. If you are anywhere near one of these dates, speak to a California lawyer now rather than after you have finished reading.