Statute of Limitations Calculator

What This Statute of Limitations Calculator Does

This tool helps you estimate a civil filing deadline based on an incident date (or discovery date), the length of the limitation period, and any tolling or pause time you choose to include. It is designed for lawyers, legal professionals, and individuals who want a quick, educational estimate for planning and calendaring.

Important: This calculator does not give you the exact deadline for any specific case. Limitation periods change, have many exceptions, and may be interpreted differently by courts. Always confirm with statutes, rules, and a licensed attorney in the relevant jurisdiction.

Key Concepts: Accrual, Discovery, Tolling, and Repose

• Accrual date: The date the legal claim "accrues" and the limitations clock starts. Often this is the date of the event, such as a car accident or contract breach, but some claims accrue later.
• Incident date: For calculator purposes, this is generally the date of the underlying event (e.g., the collision, the last defective work, the missed payment).
• Discovery rule: In some jurisdictions and for some claim types, the clock may start when the injury or problem was discovered, or reasonably should have been discovered. If you select the discovery option in the form, you are treating that date as the starting point instead of the original incident.
• Tolling: Certain circumstances can pause or extend the limitation period, such as the plaintiff being a minor, mental incapacity, the defendant being out of state, bankruptcy stays, or active military service. The calculator lets you enter tolling as a number of days.
• Statute of repose: A separate, often stricter, time bar that can cut off claims after a maximum number of years from a key event (for example, substantial completion of construction), even if the injury is discovered later. This calculator focuses on statutes of limitations only and does not independently check any applicable statute of repose.

How the Calculator Estimates the Deadline

The basic idea is to start from your chosen accrual date (either the incident date or discovery date), add the limitation period, and then adjust for any tolling or pause days you enter.

In abstract form, we can describe the calculation using MathML:

Where:

• I = the starting date (incident or discovery).
• L = the limitation period, converted from years to days. The tool treats one year as 365 days for estimation.
• T = tolling or pause time in days (if any), which are subtracted from the passage of time.
• D = the resulting estimated deadline date.

The output is an ISO-style date (YYYY-MM-DD) that you can copy into calendars, case management systems, or client communications. The tool uses simple calendar arithmetic and does not independently adjust for weekends, court holidays, or filing cut-off times.

Common Limitation Period Examples by State and Claim Type

The form may include presets for common combinations of states and claim types. These are intended only as illustrative defaults to help you see how the calculator works. They are not comprehensive, may be outdated, and do not reflect every special category (for example, defamation, medical malpractice, government claims, or claims with separate notice deadlines).

Within each state, there are many exceptions and special rules. For example, medical malpractice claims, claims against government entities, worker's compensation claims, and certain fraud or consumer protection actions may have different or shorter time limits, extra notice requirements, or separate statutes of repose. Always verify the correct period for the specific claim type and time frame you are dealing with.

How to Use the Inputs Effectively

• Jurisdiction (state): Use this to select a state if you want to reference example periods or internal presets. If you are dealing with federal claims or another country, leave this field blank and manually enter the limitation period in years.
• Claim type: Choose the general category that most closely fits your situation (personal injury, property damage, written contract, oral contract, fraud). Remember that many real-world claims cross categories or have specialized statutes.
• Date of incident: Enter the date of the event or accrual you are using as the starting point. In some cases this is the date of injury; in others it may be the date of breach, last performance, or another legally significant event.
• Discovery rule checkbox: If you are using a discovery date instead of the original incident date, select this option and enter the date when the problem was discovered (or should reasonably have been discovered) in the date field. Whether the discovery rule applies is a legal question and varies widely.
• Limitation period (years): Enter the number of years for the applicable statute of limitations. The calculator accepts decimals (for example, 1.5 years). Internally, it treats each year as 365 days for estimating purposes; this means your result may differ slightly from a court's precise computation, especially over longer periods or where leap years are involved.
• Tolling / pause (days): If you know that certain days should be excluded from the calculation due to tolling, enter the total number of days here. Examples might include periods when the defendant was out of state, when the plaintiff was a minor, or when a bankruptcy stay prevented filing. The legal effect of tolling depends entirely on the governing law.

Worked Example

Suppose a car accident occurs in a state where the general personal injury limitation period is 2 years. You want to estimate the last day to file.

1. You enter the accident date as 2024-03-15 in the incident field.
2. You leave the discovery box unchecked because the injury was immediately apparent.
3. You enter 2 in the limitation period (years) input.
4. You have no known tolling periods, so you leave the tolling field at 0.

The calculator converts 2 years to 730 days (2 × 365), adds 730 days to 2024-03-15, and subtracts 0 tolling days. It then returns an estimated deadline around mid-March 2026. If you later determine that 60 days were tolled while the defendant was out of state (and that the law in your jurisdiction actually recognizes that tolling), you could re-run the calculation with 60 in the tolling field to see how the date shifts.

Comparison: What the Calculator Covers vs. What It Does Not

Interpreting the Result and Planning Next Steps

The output date is best treated as a planning anchor, not a definitive deadline. In a legal workflow, you might:

• Use the date to set conservative internal reminders that mature earlier than the estimated deadline.
• Compare the result against statutes, rules, and case law for the specific jurisdiction and claim type.
• Coordinate with other tools, such as a court deadline tracker or filing-fee calculator, to manage all steps required before filing.

Because the calculator uses simplified assumptions (for example, converting years to 365 days and ignoring holidays), it is wise to treat its result as one data point among several checks before you rely on any date for actual filing.

Limitations, Assumptions, and Disclaimer

This tool makes several simplifying assumptions:

• Each year is treated as 365 days for estimation; leap years and statutory language that measures in calendar years may produce different results in practice.
• The effect of tolling is modeled as a simple subtraction of days; real-world tolling may start, stop, or compound in more complex ways.
• The examples and state periods in the table are generic and may be incomplete, outdated, or inapplicable to your claim type or incident date.
• The calculator does not automatically account for statutes of repose, contractual limitation clauses, special notice requirements (such as claims against government entities), or unique categories like medical malpractice, worker's compensation, or federal claims.
• The tool does not apply or interpret any law. It only performs arithmetic on the dates and numbers you provide.

Disclaimer: This calculator is for educational and general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Using it does not create an attorney–client relationship. Limitation periods, rules on accrual, discovery, tolling, and repose vary widely by jurisdiction and change over time. Before relying on any deadline for an actual case, consult the governing statutes and a qualified lawyer licensed in the relevant jurisdiction.

Brief FAQ

Can this calculator tell me the exact deadline for my case?

No. It can only estimate based on the information and assumptions you enter. Exact deadlines depend on detailed legal analysis, including statutes, rules, and case law.

What if the law changed after my incident date?

Changes in limitation statutes may or may not apply to incidents that occurred before the change, depending on transition rules and court interpretations. The calculator does not track these changes. Always check the law that applies to your specific incident date.

Does this work for federal or non-U.S. claims?

Yes, in the sense that the date math still works if you know the applicable limitation period and enter it. However, the examples and presets are oriented to U.S. state law and should not be treated as guidance for federal or foreign claims.

How should I handle weekends and court holidays?

The calculator does not adjust for weekends or holidays. Many court rules extend a deadline that falls on a day when the clerk's office is closed to the next business day, but you must check the specific rules for the court where you will file.

Can I use this for internal law firm calendaring?

You can use the estimates as a starting point for internal calendaring, but they should be double-checked against governing law and firm policies. Many firms build in earlier, conservative internal deadlines to reduce risk.