The Texas civil statute of limitations sets how long you have to file a lawsuit, and for most claims that window is one, two, or four years from the date of the harm. The deadlines are laid out in Chapter 16 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, and courts enforce them strictly: once the window closes, the defendant can move to dismiss no matter how strong your evidence is. The exact deadline depends on the type of claim, and a small set of exceptions can pause the clock in narrow circumstances.
Filing Deadlines by Type of Claim
One Year
The shortest window in Texas covers defamation and malicious prosecution. Libel (written) and slander (spoken) claims must be filed within one year of the statement.1State of Texas. Texas Code Section 16.002 – One-Year Limitations Period The same one-year clock applies to malicious prosecution, where someone initiated baseless criminal proceedings against you.
Two Years
The two-year deadline covers the largest group of everyday claims. If you’re hurt because of someone else’s negligence, you have two years from the date of injury to sue.2State of Texas. Texas Code Section 16.003 – Two-Year Limitations Period That includes car accidents, slip-and-falls, defective products, and similar personal injury claims. Medical malpractice also falls under the two-year window, but Chapter 74 adds its own requirements, including written pre-suit notice to the health care provider at least 60 days before you file.
Wrongful death gets the same two years, measured from the date of death rather than the date of the underlying injury. That distinction matters when someone is hurt months before dying from the injury.
Property damage and trespass fall under the same two-year statute, as do claims for someone taking or refusing to return your personal property. Tortious interference with a contract or business relationship is also a two-year claim, with one wrinkle: if the interference rests entirely on defamatory statements, the one-year defamation deadline applies instead.
Consumer claims under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices–Consumer Protection Act carry a two-year deadline that runs from the date of the deceptive act or from when you discovered it (or reasonably should have), whichever is later. If the defendant knowingly stalled you to run out the clock, the window can be extended by 180 days.3State of Texas. Texas Business and Commerce Code Section 17.565 – Limitation
Four Years
Breach of contract, unpaid debt, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty all carry a four-year deadline.4State of Texas. Texas Code Section 16.004 – Four-Year Limitations Period The clock generally starts when the breach happens, not when you notice the financial fallout. If a contractor cut corners in January but the substandard work only became obvious the following December, the four years still run from January. The deadline applies to written and oral agreements alike, though proving the terms of an unwritten deal is a harder fight. Fraud claims get some flexibility because fraud is often hidden by design; the discovery rule discussed below can push back the start of the clock.
Contracts for the sale of goods are governed by the Uniform Commercial Code as adopted in Texas, with a default four-year deadline running from the breach. The parties can agree in the original contract to shorten that period to as little as one year, but they cannot extend it past four.
Adverse Possession
Claims to recover land from someone occupying it run on longer timelines that scale with the strength of the occupant’s claim:
- Three years when the occupant holds title or color of title.5State of Texas. Texas Code Section 16.024 – Adverse Possession Three-Year Limitations Period
- Five years when the occupant cultivates or uses the property, pays taxes on it, and holds a recorded deed. Forged and quitclaim deeds don’t count.6State of Texas. Texas Code Section 16.025 – Adverse Possession Five-Year Limitations Period
- Ten years when the occupant simply uses or enjoys the property without a title document. Without a recorded deed, the possessor’s claim is capped at 160 acres.7State of Texas. Texas Code Section 16.026 – Adverse Possession 10-Year Limitations Period
Suing a Government Entity: The Six-Month Notice Trap
Claims against a Texas city, county, school district, or state agency carry a procedural hurdle that catches a lot of people out. Before you file suit, you must give the governmental unit formal written notice of your claim within six months of the incident, describing the damage or injury, when and where it happened, and what occurred.8State of Texas. Texas Code Section 101.101 – Notice Miss the notice window and the claim can be barred even though the two-year limitations period hasn’t expired.
The notice requirement is waived only if the entity already has actual knowledge that someone was hurt, killed, or had their property damaged. Courts read “actual notice” narrowly, so it’s not a fallback to rely on.
For claims against the federal government, the Federal Tort Claims Act requires an administrative claim to the responsible agency within two years of the incident. If the agency denies the claim, you then have six months from the denial to file suit in federal court.9eCFR. 39 CFR 912.3 – Time Limit for Filing
When the Clock Starts and What Counts as Filing
The clock starts on the date your cause of action accrues, which usually means the date the harmful event happened. For a car crash, that’s the day of the collision. For a breach of contract, it’s the day the other side failed to perform. For wrongful death, it’s the date of death. Texas courts apply an objective standard, so the deadline doesn’t wait for you to personally realize you were harmed unless a specific exception applies.
When counting, exclude the day of the event and count forward in calendar days. If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. A lawsuit is considered filed when you submit the petition and pay the filing fee.
Filing on time isn’t enough by itself. You also have to serve the defendant with notice of the lawsuit, and you have to do it diligently. Texas courts have dismissed cases where the plaintiff filed within the window but then waited months to serve the other side. In one federal case, the court threw out a personal injury claim because the plaintiff waited five months after limitations expired before even requesting that citation be issued.10U.S. Government Publishing Office. Woldesilassie v. Bishop Memorandum and Order Service that happens after the deadline can relate back to the filing date only if you can show reasonable diligence throughout. A lot of otherwise good claims quietly die here.
Exceptions That Can Pause the Clock
Several doctrines can delay or pause a limitations period. They exist, but courts apply them narrowly.
The Discovery Rule
When an injury is hidden by its nature, Texas courts delay the start of the limitations period until the injured person knew or should have known about the harm. This comes up in fraud, professional malpractice, and latent injury cases.11United States Bankruptcy Court. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.004, Statute of Limitations, Equitable Estoppel, Discovery Rule To invoke it, you need to show the injury was inherently undiscoverable at the time and is objectively verifiable. A slow leak behind a wall may qualify; ignoring obvious warning signs will not.
Fraudulent Concealment
When a defendant actively hides wrongdoing to keep you from learning you have a claim, the limitations period is paused until you uncover the deception or reasonably should have. The Texas Supreme Court has held that a party cannot hide behind the deadline when their own fraud kept you from filing.12Justia. Borderlon v. Peck, 661 S.W.2d 907 The burden is on you to prove the concealment was deliberate and that you were diligent in trying to discover it.
Minors and People of Unsound Mind
If a person with a legal claim is under 18 or of unsound mind when the cause of action arises, the time spent under that disability doesn’t count toward the limitations period.13Texas Constitution and Statutes. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.001 – Effect of Disability A child hurt in a crash at age 10 would not see the two-year clock start until they turn 18. Once the disability ends, the standard limitations period applies in full.
Active-Duty Military Service
The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act excludes a service member’s period of active duty from any statute of limitations calculation, whether they are the potential plaintiff or defendant, in state and federal courts alike.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S. Code 3936 – Statute of Limitations The clock resumes when active duty ends.
Statutes of Repose: Hard Cutoffs That Don’t Pause
A statute of repose works differently from a statute of limitations. It cannot be extended. No discovery rule, no tolling for fraud, no pausing for a disability. It runs from a fixed event like the completion of construction or the sale of a product, regardless of when the injury actually happens.
For defects in a building or other improvement to real property, suit must be filed within ten years of substantial completion. Claims by government entities face an eight-year repose period. For residential construction with a compliant written warranty from the contractor, the ten-year window drops to six.15State of Texas. Texas Code Section 16.009 – Statutes of Limitations and Repose for Claims Involving Defective or Unsafe Conditions of Improvements to Real Property If a foundation defect surfaces in year 11, the claim is dead even though no one could have discovered it sooner.
For defective product claims, the repose period is 15 years from the date the product was sold by the defendant. If the manufacturer expressly warranted in writing a useful safe life longer than 15 years, the repose period matches that warranty. Toxic exposure has its own carve-out: if you were exposed within the 15-year window but symptoms didn’t appear until after it expired, the repose deadline does not apply.16State of Texas. Texas Code Civil Practice and Remedies Section 16.012
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
File after the limitations period expires and the defendant will raise it as an affirmative defense. The court dismisses the case, however strong the underlying facts. The burden then shifts to you to prove an exception applies, and judges are skeptical of late-filed claims without a strong justification.
The damage isn’t limited to losing the courtroom fight. Once the deadline passes, leverage in settlement talks disappears too. Insurance companies and opposing parties track these deadlines closely, and the moment your claim is time-barred, any incentive to settle evaporates. Even informal negotiations can stop cold. The filing deadline is often the only thing keeping the other side at the table.