TL;DR — Key Takeaways
- The deadline depends on the claim, not the dispute. One set of facts can produce a contract claim with four years and a fraud claim with three, running from different dates.
- Written contract, four years. Oral contract, two. Personal injury and wrongful death, two. Fraud, three from discovery. Property damage, three. The catch-all is four.
- Claims against a public entity are the trap: a written claim generally has to be presented within six months, long before any lawsuit deadline.
- The clock usually starts when the cause of action accrues, which is not always when you found out. The discovery rule delays accrual for some claims and not others.
- Tolling exists but is narrower than people assume. Negotiating does not toll. Being busy does not toll.
- Filing one day late generally ends the claim. There is no substantial-compliance doctrine for a missed limitations period.
California does not have one statute of limitations. It has dozens, and which one applies depends on the legal theory you bring rather than on what happened to you. The same set of facts can support a breach of contract claim with a four-year deadline and a fraud claim with a three-year deadline running from a different date, and losing one does not necessarily lose the other.
This is a map of the common ones, how the clock starts, and what actually stops it. It is a starting point rather than an answer for a specific claim, because the exceptions are where these questions are usually decided.
The common periods
Four years, written contract. Code of Civil Procedure section 337. Breach of a contract in writing.
Two years, oral contract. Section 339. The gap between four and two is one of the better arguments for putting agreements in writing.
Two years, personal injury and wrongful death. Section 335.1.
Three years, fraud or mistake. Section 338(d), and by its terms the cause of action is not deemed to have accrued until the aggrieved party discovers the facts constituting the fraud or mistake. The discovery rule is written into the statute here rather than supplied by case law.
Three years, injury to property. Section 338. Trespass, waste, and damage to real or personal property.
One year, specified claims. Section 340 covers a set including certain statutory penalties and libel and slander.
Four years, the catch-all. Section 343. Where no other period is prescribed, four years.
Legal malpractice, one year from discovery and four years outside. Section 340.6, with tolling provisions inside the statute.
Ten years, latent construction defects. Section 337.15, a statute of repose rather than a limitations period, which means it can bar a claim before the claimant knows about it. Bay Legal’s construction content covers this in depth.
Specialist areas carry their own periods, from medical malpractice to elder abuse to securities, and a claim brought under a specific statute usually carries the deadline that statute supplies.
If you are unsure which period governs a claim, that is worth establishing before anything else, because every other decision depends on it. Call Bay Legal at (650) 668-8000 in Northern California or (213) 668-8000 in Southern California.
The six-month trap
The deadline that catches people most often is not in the Code of Civil Procedure at all.
Where your claim is against a public entity, meaning a city, a county, a school district, a transit agency or a state agency, the Government Claims Act requires a written claim to be presented to the entity before you may sue. For claims relating to death, injury to person, or damage to personal property or growing crops, the presentation deadline is generally six months after accrual. Other claims generally carry one year.
Miss the presentation deadline and you have not merely lost time. You have generally lost the right to sue, subject to a late-claim application and relief procedure that is itself deadline-bound and discretionary.
The trap is that people apply the two-year personal injury period, wait a year, and discover the claim died at six months. If a government body of any kind is involved, whether a pothole, a public hospital, a school or a bus, the claims deadline governs and it should be established in the first week.
When the clock starts
Usually on accrual, which is when the cause of action is complete: the wrong has occurred and the elements exist. For a breach of contract that is generally the breach, not the discovery of it and not the final payment.
The discovery rule delays accrual until the plaintiff discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, the facts constituting the claim. It is written into section 338(d) for fraud. For other claims it applies where the courts have extended it, typically where the injury is by nature difficult to detect or the defendant was in a position of trust. It is not a general rule available for any claim where the plaintiff was unaware.
The “reasonably should have discovered” half does real work. A plaintiff who had enough information to investigate and did not is often held to have constructive knowledge from the point the inquiry should have begun.
Continuing violations and continuous accrual can produce a series of claims with rolling deadlines rather than one claim with a single deadline, in some contexts. Whether they apply is claim-specific.
What tolls, and what does not
Tolling that exists. Minority and certain incapacities suspend the running of the period under section 352. A defendant’s absence from the state can toll under section 351. Equitable tolling applies in defined circumstances, typically where a plaintiff pursued an alternative remedy in good faith. Some statutes contain their own tolling provisions. A written agreement to extend can be effective, and where a deadline is approaching that agreement is worth having rather than assuming.
Tolling that does not exist. Settlement negotiations do not toll. An insurer’s continued adjustment of a claim does not toll. The defendant promising to make it right does not toll, absent something amounting to estoppel. Not having found a lawyer does not toll. Waiting for a related case to resolve does not toll.
That first one is the expensive misunderstanding. Parties negotiate for months in good faith, the deadline passes, and the negotiation is what killed the claim. If a limitations period is approaching during a negotiation, the choices are a written tolling agreement or a filed complaint.
What happens if you file one day late
The claim is generally barred, and the defendant raises it as an affirmative defense.
There is no substantial-compliance doctrine for a missed limitations period and no discretion to excuse the delay on equitable grounds absent a recognized tolling or estoppel theory. This is unlike many procedural deadlines, which courts have latitude to relieve.
Two things are worth knowing. A limitations defense must generally be raised by the defendant rather than applied by the court, so an untimely claim is not automatically dismissed, though it will be once raised. And where one theory is barred, another arising from the same facts may not be, which is why the claim-by-claim analysis matters.
Filing also is not the end of the deadline problem. A filed complaint has to be served, and Code of Civil Procedure section 583.210 requires service within three years, with dismissal mandatory for missing it. The case then has to be brought to trial within five years. How long a California civil lawsuit takes covers those clocks.
Contractual limitations periods
Contracts sometimes shorten the period. A provision requiring suit within one year on a claim that would otherwise carry four is common in insurance policies, construction contracts, and commercial agreements.
California permits reasonable contractual shortening in many contexts, which means the deadline governing your claim may be in the agreement rather than in the code. Where a contract is involved, read it for a limitations clause before you rely on a statutory period. Whether a particular clause is enforceable is fact-specific and depends on the type of claim and the circumstances of the agreement.
What to do with a deadline you are unsure about
Establish it first, before assessing the merits or the defendant’s ability to pay. A strong, collectable claim that is time-barred is worth nothing, and the analysis in is my lawsuit worth it assumes a live claim.
If the deadline is close, the safe move is usually to file and then negotiate, rather than to negotiate and then file. Filing preserves the claim; a handshake does not. Filing as leverage covers what a filing changes.
And if the deadline has passed, it is still worth checking whether a different theory arising from the same facts carries a longer period or a later accrual date. That is frequently where a claim survives.
Bay Legal reviews limitations questions early, which is when it is cheapest to be right. Reach us at (650) 668-8000, (213) 668-8000, or through baylegal.com/contact-us.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the limitations periods for the most common California civil claims?
Written contract four years under Code of Civil Procedure section 337, oral contract two under section 339, personal injury and wrongful death two under section 335.1, fraud three from discovery under section 338(d), injury to property three under section 338, certain claims including libel and slander one under section 340, and a four-year catch-all under section 343. Specific statutes often supply their own periods.
When does the clock start and what is the discovery rule?
Generally when the cause of action accrues, meaning the wrong has occurred and the elements exist. The discovery rule delays accrual until the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered the facts. It is written into section 338(d) for fraud and applies to other claims only where the courts have extended it, so it is not available as a general excuse for late awareness.
What tolls or extends a limitations period?
Minority and certain incapacities under section 352, a defendant’s absence from the state under section 351, equitable tolling in defined circumstances, statute-specific tolling provisions, and a written agreement between the parties. Settlement negotiations, an insurer’s ongoing adjustment, and a defendant’s assurances do not toll.
What happens if you file one day late?
The claim is generally barred and the defendant raises the bar as an affirmative defense. There is no substantial-compliance doctrine and no general equitable discretion to excuse the delay. It is worth checking whether a different theory arising from the same facts carries a longer period or a later accrual date.
How do contractual limitations periods interact with the statutes?
A contract can shorten the period, and such clauses are common in insurance policies and commercial agreements. Where a contract governs the relationship, the operative deadline may be in the agreement rather than in the code, so read it before relying on a statutory period. Enforceability of a particular clause is fact-specific.
