The Connecticut civil statute of limitations gives you two years to file most personal injury lawsuits, three years for other torts and oral contracts, and six years for written contracts, with shorter or longer windows for specific claim types. Miss the deadline and the court will almost certainly dismiss your case, no matter how strong the underlying facts are.
Personal Injury, Malpractice, and Wrongful Death
Injuries caused by someone else’s negligence, recklessness, or malpractice carry a two-year filing deadline. The clock runs from the date the injury happens or from when you first discover it (or reasonably should have).1Justia. Connecticut Code 52-584 – Limitation of Action for Injury to Person or Property Caused by Negligence, Misconduct or Malpractice Car crashes, slip-and-falls, and similar negligence claims all fit here.
Medical malpractice uses the same two-year discovery rule, but with a hard outer cap: no suit can be filed more than three years from the negligent act itself, even if the patient had no way of knowing sooner.1Justia. Connecticut Code 52-584 – Limitation of Action for Injury to Person or Property Caused by Negligence, Misconduct or Malpractice A surgical error discovered in year four is already barred.
Wrongful death claims run on a two-year clock from the date of death, with a five-year outer limit measured from the act or omission that caused the death. That outer limit disappears entirely if the responsible person was convicted of murder or manslaughter.2Justia. Connecticut Code 52-555 – Actions for Injuries Resulting in Death The executor or administrator of the estate is the party who files.
Contract Disputes
Written contracts get a six-year deadline, running 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 three.4Justia. Connecticut Code 52-581 – Action on Oral Contract to Be Brought Within Three Years
Sales of goods are governed by Connecticut’s version of the Uniform Commercial Code, which sets a four-year window from the date of breach. The parties can shorten that to as little as one year in the agreement itself, but they cannot extend it past four.5Justia. Connecticut Code 42a-2-725 – Statute of Limitations in Contracts for Sale
When a contracting party actively hides wrongdoing, the deadline can restart from the date the fraud is discovered. That tolling rule is covered below.
Property Claims
Actions to recover possession of land must be brought within 15 years. That same 15-year period functions as Connecticut’s adverse possession threshold: continuous, open occupation by someone else for 15 years without challenge can ripen into their ownership claim.6Justia. Connecticut Code 52-575 – Entry Upon Land to Be Made Within Fifteen Years
Damage to property, real or personal, falls under the general three-year tort statute. Construction defects, encroachments, and a neighbor’s tree crushing your fence all sit here.7Justia. Connecticut Code 52-577 – General Limitation of Actions If the damage arises from breach of a written 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 and Other Specific Torts
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 deadline falls under a three-year catch-all covering fraud, tortious interference, and similar claims.7Justia. Connecticut Code 52-577 – General Limitation of Actions
Civil suits for childhood sexual abuse are the major outlier. Survivors have up to 30 years after reaching the age of majority to file.9Justia. Connecticut Code 52-577d – Limitation of Action for Damages to Minor Caused by Sexual Abuse, Exploitation or Assault
Suing the State or a Municipality
Claims against the State of Connecticut go through the Office of the Claims Commissioner first. Written notice of claim is due within one year of the injury or its discovery, and 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 The notice must include your name and address, a description of what happened, and the amount you’re seeking.11Justia. Connecticut Code 4-147 – Notice of Claim
Municipal claims can demand action even faster. For certain claims, particularly those involving defective roads and sidewalks, Connecticut law requires written notice to the appropriate town authority within 90 days. Relying on the general two-year personal injury deadline without providing that early notice usually ends the case before it starts.
Employment Discrimination
Discrimination claims don’t begin in court. They run through 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.12State of Connecticut. How to File a Discrimination Complaint Skip that step and go straight to a lawsuit, and the employer can get the case dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
Federal claims track through the EEOC on a parallel 180- or 300-day schedule. Because Connecticut has a state agency that handles the same categories of discrimination, the 300-day deadline typically applies for federal claims as well.
When the Clock Pauses
Several situations toll, or freeze, the Connecticut civil statute of limitations. Tolling matters most when the person entitled to sue cannot do so or when the facts behind the claim are being hidden.
Legal Incapacity
For contract claims, a person who is legally incapable of suing when the cause of action arises gets 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 That covers minors, whose clock generally begins at 18, and individuals adjudicated mentally incompetent.
Defendant’s Absence From Connecticut
Time a defendant spends outside Connecticut before service does not count toward the limitations period. The exclusion is capped at seven years of absence.8Connecticut General Assembly. Chapter 926 – Statute of Limitations
Fraudulent Concealment
When a potentially liable party fraudulently conceals the cause of action, the claim is treated as accruing on the date you actually discover it.13Justia. Connecticut Code 52-595 – Fraudulent Concealment of Cause of Action You’ll need proof that the concealment was deliberate and that reasonable diligence wouldn’t have uncovered it sooner.
Active-Duty Military Service
Under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the entire period of military service is excluded from any statute of limitations calculation. It applies whether the servicemember is the plaintiff or the defendant, and no showing that service actually interfered with the case is required.14GovInfo. 50 USC 3936 – Statute of Limitations The protection runs from the day active duty begins until the day it ends.
Statutes of Repose: The Outer Wall
A statute of repose is different from a statute of limitations. Limitations periods start when you discover the harm; a repose period starts from the underlying act and sets an absolute cutoff that no discovery rule and no tolling doctrine can push past.
Medical malpractice has a three-year repose measured from the negligent act.1Justia. Connecticut Code 52-584 – Limitation of Action for Injury to Person or Property Caused by Negligence, Misconduct or Malpractice Wrongful death has a five-year repose from the act or omission that caused the death.2Justia. Connecticut Code 52-555 – Actions for Injuries Resulting in Death The malpractice repose is the one that most often destroys otherwise valid claims, since slow-developing injuries frequently don’t become apparent until year three or later. If your claim involves events more than a couple of years old, check for a repose period before doing anything else.
What Happens If You File Late
Once the deadline expires, the defendant raises the statute of limitations as an affirmative defense, and the court dismisses the case. Judges enforce these deadlines strictly. The strength of the underlying facts is irrelevant once the window has closed.
The damage extends beyond the courthouse. A time-barred claim has no settlement value. Insurance carriers and opposing counsel check filing dates as a matter of routine, and once the claim is expired there’s no reason for them to negotiate. Whatever leverage existed disappears the day after the deadline.
Connecticut courts do recognize equitable tolling in theory, but they apply it only in extraordinary situations, such as when a defendant’s fraud made discovery impossible. Filing late without a compelling legal basis for an extension typically ends in immediate dismissal through a motion to dismiss or summary judgment, and that dismissal is final.