Connecticut’s civil statute of limitations gives you a limited window to file a lawsuit, and the window is different for every kind of claim. Most personal injury and other tort cases must be filed within two or three years. Written contract disputes get six years, oral contracts three, and sales of goods four. Claims against the government and discrimination complaints run on much shorter clocks. Once the deadline passes, the court will almost always dismiss the case, no matter how strong it is.
Personal Injury, Malpractice, and Wrongful Death
If you’re hurt because of someone else’s negligence, recklessness, or malpractice, you generally have two years to file. The clock starts on the date the injury happens or the date you first discover it (or reasonably should have discovered it).1Justia. Connecticut Code 52-584 – Limitation of Action for Injury to Person or Property Caused by Negligence, Misconduct or Malpractice This covers the full range of negligence-based injury claims, from car accidents to slip-and-fall injuries.
Medical malpractice follows the same two-year discovery window, but Connecticut adds a hard outer boundary: no suit can be filed more than three years from the date of the negligent act itself, even if the patient had no way of knowing something went wrong.1Justia. Connecticut Code 52-584 – Limitation of Action for Injury to Person or Property Caused by Negligence, Misconduct or Malpractice If a surgeon leaves a sponge inside you and you don’t find out for four years, the claim is already barred.
Wrongful death has its own timeline. The executor or administrator of the deceased person’s estate must file within two years of the date of death, and Connecticut imposes a five-year outer limit measured from the act or omission that caused the death. One exception: if the person responsible was convicted of murder or manslaughter, there is no outer time limit on the civil action.2Justia. Connecticut Code 52-555 – Actions for Injuries Resulting in Death
Contract Disputes
The deadline for suing over a broken contract depends on how the agreement was made. Written contracts carry a six-year statute of limitations measured from the date of the breach.3Justia. Connecticut Code 52-576 – Action on Account, or on Simple or Implied Contract or on Contract in Writing Oral contracts get only three years.4Justia. Connecticut Code 52-581 – Action on Oral Contract to Be Brought Within Three Years
Contracts for the sale of goods fall under the Uniform Commercial Code rather than the general contract statute. The UCC provision gives you four years from when the breach occurs. The original agreement can shorten that period to as little as one year, but the parties cannot extend it beyond four.5Justia. Connecticut Code 42a-2-725 – Statute of Limitations in Contracts for Sale
Property Claims
Land disputes run on two different clocks depending on what you’re claiming. To recover possession of land, you have 15 years to take legal action. The same 15-year window doubles as Connecticut’s adverse possession threshold: someone who occupies your land openly and continuously for 15 years without challenge can claim ownership.6Justia. Connecticut Code 52-575 – Entry Upon Land to Be Made Within Fifteen Years
Claims for damage to property, whether real estate or personal belongings, fall under the general three-year tort statute. That covers construction defects, unauthorized encroachments, and a neighbor’s tree crashing into your fence.7Justia. Connecticut Code 52-577 – General Limitation of Actions If the damage involves a breach of a written agreement such as a lease or purchase contract, the six-year contract deadline applies instead.3Justia. Connecticut Code 52-576 – Action on Account, or on Simple or Implied Contract or on Contract in Writing
Defamation, Catch-All Torts, and Childhood Sexual Abuse
Libel and slander claims must be filed within two years of the defamatory statement.8Connecticut General Assembly. Chapter 926 – Statute of Limitations Any tort that doesn’t have its own dedicated statute of limitations falls under a general three-year catch-all, which covers claims from fraud to interference with a business relationship.7Justia. Connecticut Code 52-577 – General Limitation of Actions
Civil claims for childhood sexual abuse have a far longer window. Survivors may file suit up to 30 years after reaching the age of majority.9Justia. Connecticut Code 52-577d – Limitation of Action for Damages to Minor Caused by Sexual Abuse, Exploitation or Assault
Claims Against State and Local Governments
Suing the state or a city involves shorter deadlines and extra procedural steps that sit on top of the regular statute of limitations. Missing either one kills the case.
Claims against the State of Connecticut must first go through the Office of the Claims Commissioner. You have to file a written notice of claim within one year of the date the injury or damage occurs, or within one year of when you discover it. Even with the discovery rule, no claim can be filed more than three years from the underlying act or event.10Justia. Connecticut Code 4-148 – Time Limitation on Presenting Claims
Municipal claims can move even faster. Connecticut law requires written notice to the appropriate town authority within 90 days for certain claims, particularly those involving defective roads and sidewalks. Waiting until the two-year personal injury deadline to file against a city or town, without the required early notice, will usually end the case before it begins.
Employment Discrimination
Employment discrimination claims don’t start in court. You have to go through an administrative process first, and that process runs on its own clock. In Connecticut, discrimination complaints go to the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, and you have 300 days from the discriminatory act to file a written, sworn complaint with the CHRO.11State of Connecticut. How to File a Discrimination Complaint Miss that window and you generally lose the right to pursue the claim at all. Skip the CHRO and go straight to court, and the employer can ask the judge to dismiss for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
Federal discrimination claims follow a parallel track through the EEOC. Because Connecticut has the CHRO, the 300-day federal deadline typically applies as well. The Equal Pay Act is an exception: you can go directly to court without filing an administrative charge, and you have two years from the last discriminatory paycheck, or three years if the violation was willful.
When the Clock Pauses
Connecticut recognizes several situations where the statute of limitations is paused, or “tolled.” Tolling freezes the countdown.
Legal Incapacity
For contract-based claims, if a person is legally incapable of bringing suit when the cause of action first arises, they have three years after the incapacity ends to file.3Justia. Connecticut Code 52-576 – Action on Account, or on Simple or Implied Contract or on Contract in Writing This covers minors (whose clock typically starts at age 18) and individuals who have been declared mentally incompetent.
Defendant’s Absence From Connecticut
If the person you need to sue leaves Connecticut before you can serve them, the time they spend outside the state does not count toward the limitations period. No more than seven years of absence can be excluded from the calculation.8Connecticut General Assembly. Chapter 926 – Statute of Limitations
Fraudulent Concealment
When someone actively hides the existence of your claim, the statute of limitations doesn’t start until you actually discover what they did. If a person who would be liable fraudulently conceals the cause of action, the claim is treated as accruing on the date you first learn of it.12Justia. Connecticut Code 52-595 – Fraudulent Concealment of Cause of Action You’ll need to show that the concealment was deliberate and that you couldn’t have uncovered it sooner through reasonable effort.
Active-Duty Military Service
Federal law protects servicemembers from having their filing deadlines expire while they’re on active duty. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the entire period of military service is excluded from computing any statute of limitations, whether the servicemember is the plaintiff or the defendant.13GovInfo. 50 USC 3936 – Statute of Limitations The protection kicks in the day a person enters active duty and lasts until the day they’re released.
The Outer Limit: Statutes of Repose
A statute of repose is different from a statute of limitations in one critical way. The limitations clock often starts when you discover the harm. A repose clock starts from the date of the act itself and sets an absolute outside boundary that no amount of delayed discovery can extend.
Medical malpractice carries a three-year repose measured from the date of the negligent act, regardless of when the patient discovers the injury.1Justia. Connecticut Code 52-584 – Limitation of Action for Injury to Person or Property Caused by Negligence, Misconduct or Malpractice Wrongful death claims face a five-year repose from the act or omission that caused the death.2Justia. Connecticut Code 52-555 – Actions for Injuries Resulting in Death A slow-developing malpractice complication that doesn’t produce symptoms for four years is already time-barred, and the discovery rule can’t save it. If your potential claim involves events more than a couple of years old, checking for a repose period should be the first thing you do.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
Once the statute of limitations expires, the defendant can raise it as an affirmative defense, and the court will dismiss the case. Judges enforce these deadlines strictly, and the strength of the underlying claim is irrelevant once the window has closed.
The damage extends beyond the courtroom. A time-barred claim has zero settlement value. Insurance companies and opposing parties routinely check filing dates, and once they determine the claim is expired, they have no reason to negotiate. Whatever leverage you had evaporates the day after the deadline passes.
Connecticut courts rarely grant relief after a statute of limitations has run. Equitable tolling exists in theory, but judges apply it only in extraordinary situations, such as when a defendant’s fraud kept the plaintiff from discovering the claim at all. Filing late without a compelling legal basis for an extension typically results in immediate dismissal, and that dismissal is final.