Florida Statute of Limitations 2026: Why You Now Have 2 Years, Not 4
In Florida, a person hurt by someone's carelessness has 2 years to file suit. Until March 24, 2023 it was 4, and a great deal of what is still published about Florida says so. The change sits in one line of the statutes and moved nearly every car crash, fall and premises claim in the state onto a clock half as long. Here is every Florida deadline by type of claim, read from the statute, with what changed and the narrow ways the clock can stop.
Every Florida deadline, by type of claim
The period that applies depends on what the claim is, not on how the person was hurt. One crash can produce an injury claim, a claim for the damaged car and, if the other vehicle was a city bus, a claim against the government, and each of them can run on its own clock.
| Claim | Deadline | When the clock starts | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Injury and death | |||
| Personal injury from negligenceCar crashes, slip and falls, dog bites and most premises cases sit here. It was four years until March 24, 2023. | 2 years | From the day the last element of the claim occurs, which for a crash or a fall is almost always the day it happened. | § 95.11(5)(a) |
| Wrongful deathA death caused by murder or manslaughter, sued against the person who did it, has no deadline at all under § 95.11(11). | 2 years | From the date of death, not the date of the accident that caused it. | § 95.11(5)(e) |
| Medical malpracticeProven fraud or concealment moves the outer limit to seven years. A child's claim survives until the eighth birthday. | 2 years, 4 at the outside | From the incident, or from when it was discovered or should have been. Never more than four years after the incident. | § 95.11(5)(c) |
| Injury from a defective productThere is a 12-year repose period counted from delivery to the first buyer, with exceptions for latent injuries and long-life products like aircraft. | 4 years | From when the defect and the injury were discovered or should have been, under § 95.031(2)(b). | § 95.11(3)(d) |
| Assault, battery and other intentional tortsAbuse and incest claims run on their own clock under § 95.11(8), and sexual battery of a child under 16 can be sued at any time under § 95.11(10). | 4 years | From the date of the act. | § 95.11(3)(n) |
| Professional malpractice (lawyers, accountants and others)Only a person in privity with the professional, usually the client, gets this period. | 2 years | From when the mistake was discovered or should have been. | § 95.11(5)(b) |
| Libel and slander | 2 years | From publication. | § 95.11(5)(h) |
| Property | |||
| Trespass on real propertyDamage caused by someone's carelessness, such as a car hitting a fence, is usually pleaded as negligence, and the two-year period is the safer one to plan around. | 4 years | From the trespass. | § 95.11(3)(f) |
| Taking or damaging personal propertyThe same caution applies: a property claim founded on negligence falls under the two-year rule. | 4 years | From the taking or the damage. | § 95.11(3)(g) |
| Construction defectsNothing can be filed more than seven years after the certificate, whatever was discovered later. | 4 years, 7 at the outside | From the certificate of occupancy or completion, or from discovery for a latent defect. | § 95.11(3)(b) |
| Breach of a property insurance policyThis is the deadline to sue the insurer. Notice of the claim itself is due much sooner under the policy and the insurance code. | 5 years | From the date of loss. | § 95.11(2)(e) |
| Contracts and money | |||
| Written contractMortgage foreclosure also has five years, under § 95.11(2)(c). | 5 years | From the breach. | § 95.11(2)(b) |
| Oral contract, and the sale of goods on accountSpecific performance of a contract has only one year, under § 95.11(6)(a). | 4 years | From the breach. | § 95.11(3)(j) |
| FraudNever more than 12 years after the fraud was committed. | 4 years, 12 at the outside | From when the fraud was discovered or should have been, under § 95.031(2)(a). | § 95.11(3)(i) |
| Claims against the government | |||
| Negligence claim against the state, a county or a cityWrongful death and medical malpractice claims against the government keep their two-year periods. | 4 years to sue, 3 to give notice | Written notice to the agency within 3 years, and the lawsuit within 4 years of the claim accruing. | § 768.28(6), (14) |
| Other | |||
| Enforcing a Florida court judgment | 20 years | From the judgment. | § 95.11(1) |
The Florida Legislature, Florida Statutes, Chapter 95 and the other statutes cited in each row, read on October 4, 2026. Each citation links to the official text.
Florida filing deadlines, shortest first, in years
Florida halved its injury deadline in 2023
On March 24, 2023 the Governor signed HB 837, Chapter 2023-15, Laws of Florida, a tort reform bill that took effect the same day. Among a long list of changes, it moved "an action founded on negligence" out of the 4-year list in § 95.11 and into the 2-year list.
That one move covers most of what people mean by a personal injury case. Car and truck crashes, falls in stores, dog bites, injuries on someone else's property: if the claim is that someone was careless, it now runs on 2 years.
The transition rule is the part worth reading twice. Section 28 of the act applies the shorter period only to causes of action accruing after the effective date. An injury on or before March 24, 2023 kept the old four years, which means the last of those windows does not close until March 24, 2027.
So two people hurt in the same intersection a week apart can have deadlines two years apart. Somebody injured in February 2023 who has been told "you have plenty of time" may still be right, until March 24, 2027. Somebody injured in April 2023 ran out of time in April 2025.
Several things did not change. Medical malpractice was already two years. Wrongful death was already two years. Intentional torts such as assault and battery still have four. Contract claims still have four or five.
Suing the government can give you more time than suing a neighbor
Florida's sovereign immunity statute was not touched by the 2023 bill, and it now gives a negligence claim against the state, a county or a city 4 years to sue, 3 to give notice, under § 768.28(6), (14). A crash with a private driver has two.
That is the reverse of most states, where the public-body deadline is the short one. It comes with conditions: written notice to the agency, and to the Department of Financial Services for a state agency, is a requirement that has to be met before suit, and the agency gets time to deny the claim. Wrongful death and medical malpractice claims against the government keep their two years.
Why a Florida child gets less time than a child in Texas
In most states, a minor's deadline does not start running until the 18th birthday. Florida does not work that way. Under § 95.051 a child's claim is paused only while there is no parent or guardian able to act, or that person's interests are adverse to the child's, and even then it must be filed within seven years of the event.
Because nearly every injured child has a parent, the practical rule is that a child's negligence claim runs on the same two years as an adult's. Medical malpractice is handled separately, and a child's malpractice claim survives until the eighth birthday even when the four-year outer limit has passed.
When the clock stops, and when it does not
A limitations period can be paused, which lawyers call tolling, or can start late. Both are exceptions, and a reader should assume neither applies until someone has checked.
The closed list of reasons the clock stops
Florida is unusually strict here. The statute lists the only circumstances that pause a deadline, among them the defendant being out of state, using a false name, or hiding to avoid being served. It then says that nothing else tolls a limitations period, so a court cannot add a reason of its own. § 95.051.
Minors
Being a child does not stop the clock by itself in Florida. It pauses only while the child has no parent, guardian or guardian ad litem, or while that person has an interest adverse to the child, and even then the case must be filed within seven years of the event. The practical reading is that a parent should treat a child's injury claim as running on the same two years as an adult's. § 95.051(1)(i).
Delayed discovery
A claim accrues when its last element occurs. Florida applies a discovery rule only where a statute says so: medical malpractice, professional malpractice, fraud, product liability and latent construction defects. An ordinary negligence claim gets no extra time because the injury showed up late. § 95.031.
Abuse
A claim founded on abuse or incest may be filed up to seven years after the victim turns 18, four years after leaving the abuser's dependency, or four years after discovering the injury and its cause, whichever is latest. Sexual battery of a child under 16 has no deadline. § 95.11(8), (10).
Against the government, the deadline is a different one
Suing a public body runs on its own statute. In Florida that means 4 years to sue, 3 to give notice, under § 768.28(6), (14). Written notice to the agency within 3 years, and the lawsuit within 4 years of the claim accruing.
Wrongful death and medical malpractice claims against the government keep their two-year periods.
It matters more often than people expect. A pothole, a city bus, a fall on public property, a crash with a police car or a sanitation truck all put the claim on this clock, and the first deadline in it is a notice, not a lawsuit, so it can pass before anyone thinks to call a lawyer.
Who handles these cases in Florida
Most injury cases are taken on contingency, so the first conversation costs nothing, and it is the place to ask which deadline applies to the facts.
This directory holds 61 verified injury firms in Florida, each scored on what it publishes and what can be checked about it. The highest-scoring today is Blakeley Car Accident & Personal Injury Lawyers, P.A. in Miami, at 80. That is a computed position, not an endorsement, and the method is published.
Ranked lists by market: Lakeland injury firms and Miami injury firms.
For the property and contract rows, the highest-scoring verified real estate firm in Florida is Goodwin Law, P.A. in Naples, at 62, and its own site is glpa.law.
Further reading from firms in this directory
We read these while writing this guide and checked what they say against the statute. Each is written by a Florida firm about its own state's deadline, and each adds something the table above cannot, which is a practitioner's view of how the rule plays out in a real case.
- How Will Florida’s New 2 Year Deadline Affect Your Injury Case?, from Lopez & Humphries, P.A. in Lakeland. A Lakeland injury firm on what the shorter window means in practice for car accident, slip and fall and premises cases, which is where most of the change lands.
Questions people ask about the Florida statute of limitations
What is the statute of limitations for personal injury in Florida?
Two years for a claim founded on negligence, under § 95.11(5)(a) of the Florida Statutes. That covers most car crashes, falls and premises injuries. It applies to any injury that happened after March 24, 2023.
Did Florida change its statute of limitations?
Yes. HB 837, signed and effective on March 24, 2023, cut the period for negligence claims from four years to two. Injuries that happened on or before that date kept four years, so an accident from early 2023 can still be inside its window until March 24, 2027.
How long do you have to sue for medical malpractice in Florida?
Two years from the incident or from when it was discovered, but never more than four years after the incident. Fraud or concealment can stretch the outer limit to seven years, and a child's claim survives until the eighth birthday.
Does the statute of limitations stop for a minor in Florida?
Usually not. Under § 95.051(1)(i) a child's claim is paused only while the child has no parent, guardian or guardian ad litem, or that person's interests are adverse to the child's, and never past seven years from the event.
What is the deadline to sue a Florida city or county?
Written notice to the agency within three years and a lawsuit within four, under § 768.28. Wrongful death and medical malpractice claims against the government keep the two-year periods.
Where this comes from
Every period on this page was read from the official text published by The Florida Legislature on October 4, 2026, and each row links to the section it comes from. Where the rule is made by courts rather than written in a statute, the page says so and names the case. Nothing here is drawn from a secondary summary.
Statutes change. When a legislature amends one of these periods, this page changes with the research file it is built from, and the date at the top moves. Firm counts and scores are computed from this directory each time the page is built.
This is not legal advice and no lawyer-client relationship comes from reading it. Whether a particular claim is still inside its deadline depends on facts this page cannot see.