Maryland Statute of Limitations 2026: The 3-Year Rule, Explained
Maryland gives most injury claims 3 years, and that number is the one people remember. The deadlines that end cases are shorter and sit beside it: 1 year for an assault, 1 year to give notice to a city or county, and 60 days to file for workers' compensation. Here is every Maryland deadline by type of claim, read from the Annotated Code.
Every Maryland 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 injuryThe general rule for every civil action at law that no other section covers. Battery runs on it too. | 3 years | From the day the claim accrues, which Maryland courts read as the day the person knew or should have known of the injury. | CJ § 5-101 |
| Wrongful deathA death caused by an occupational disease has 10 years from the death or 3 from discovery of the cause, whichever is shorter. A concealed homicide runs from discovery of the killing and of who took part in it. | 3 years | From the death, not from the injury that caused it. | CJ § 3-904(g)(1) |
| Medical malpracticeFiling a claim with the Health Care Alternative Dispute Resolution Office counts as filing the action. | 5 years, or 3 from discovery | Whichever comes first: five years from the injury, or three years from when it was discovered. | CJ § 5-109(a) |
| AssaultThe section names assault and not battery, so a claim for the physical contact itself falls under the general three years. | 1 year | From the day the claim accrues. | CJ § 5-105 |
| Libel and slander | 1 year | From the day the claim accrues, which for defamation is generally the publication. | CJ § 5-105 |
| Child sexual abuseIn force since October 1, 2023. Claims that were already time-barred before then carry a damages cap and cannot be brought if the survivor has died. | No deadline | May be filed at any time, whatever any statute of limitations, statute of repose or tort claims act says. | CJ § 5-117(b) |
| Workers' compensationThe Commission can excuse a late filing, but after two years the claim is barred completely under § 9-709(b)(3). | 60 days | From the accidental injury, filed with the Workers' Compensation Commission. | LE § 9-709(a) |
| Injury from a defective building or structureNo claim accrues at all once the improvement to real property has been in use for 20 years, or 10 against the architect, engineer or contractor. | 3 years, 20 at the outside | From the injury, which is when the claim accrues under § 5-108(e). | CJ § 5-108 |
| Property | |||
| Damage to propertyThe car in a crash runs on the same three years as the people in it. | 3 years | From the damage. | CJ § 5-101 |
| Contracts and money | |||
| Contract, written or oralMaryland draws no line between written and oral contracts. It draws one around contracts under seal. | 3 years | From the breach. | CJ § 5-101 |
| Contracts under sealCovers sealed contracts and notes, bonds and judgments. Sealed mortgages on an owner-occupied home and some hospital debts are left out. | 12 years | From accrual, or from the death of the last principal debtor or creditor, whichever is sooner. | CJ § 5-102(a) |
| Sale of goods and warrantiesA contract can shorten this to one year but never lengthen it. | 4 years | From the breach, which for a warranty is delivery, whether or not the buyer knew. | CL § 2-725 |
| Fraud | 3 years | From when the fraud was discovered, or should have been with ordinary diligence. | CJ §§ 5-101, 5-203 |
| Claims against the government | |||
| Notice of a claim against a local governmentFor Baltimore City that office is the City Solicitor. No notice is needed if the local government already had actual or constructive notice within the year, and a court can excuse a missing notice for good cause unless the defense was prejudiced. | 1 year to give notice | Within one year of the injury, in writing, stating the time, place and cause, delivered in person or by certified mail to the office the statute names. | CJ § 5-304(b) |
| Written claim to the State TreasurerThe Treasurer has to deny the claim finally before suit. | 1 year | Within one year of the injury to person or property, before any lawsuit against the State. | SG § 12-106(b)(1) |
| Lawsuit against the StateThe State's liability is capped at $400,000 per claimant under SG § 12-104. | 3 years | From when the cause of action arises. | SG § 12-106(b)(3) |
The Maryland General Assembly, the Annotated Code of Maryland, Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, Title 5 and the other statutes cited in each row, read on October 7, 2026. Each citation links to the official text.
Maryland filing deadlines, shortest first, in years
In Maryland, the short deadlines are the ones that end cases
Three years is long enough that people stop watching the calendar. Maryland has several deadlines that run out well before it.
1 year for an assault. Under CJ § 5-105, an action for assault, libel or slander has 1 year. The section does not mention battery, so the physical contact in the same attack falls under the general 3 years. A person who was threatened and then hit can have two claims from one minute, on two different clocks.
1 year for the notice to a local government. A fall on a city sidewalk or a crash with a county vehicle needs written notice within 1 year of the injury, under CJ § 5-304(b). In Baltimore City it goes to the City Solicitor. A claim against the State itself works the same way: a written claim to the State Treasurer within 1 year, under SG § 12-106(b)(1), and then a lawsuit within 3 years.
60 days for a work injury. An employee hurt on the job files with the Workers' Compensation Commission within 60 days, under LE § 9-709(a). The Commission can excuse a late claim, but not one filed two years after the accident.
There is one more Maryland rule a reader should know, even though it is not a deadline. Maryland is one of the few states that still applies contributory negligence: if the injured person was even slightly at fault, the claim can fail entirely. The state's highest court kept that rule in Coleman v. Soccer Ass'n of Columbia (2013). It is one more reason to talk to a lawyer while the evidence is fresh, not near the end of the three years.
A child's claim in Maryland: 21, 11 or never
Maryland has three different answers to the question of how long a child has, depending on the claim.
Most injuries: until 21. Under CJ § 5-201(a), (b), the clock waits until the 18th birthday and then gives the lesser of three years or the ordinary period. For an ordinary injury that means the claim can be filed until the child turns 21.
Medical malpractice: the clock starts at 11. Under CJ § 5-109(b), (c), (e), a child hurt by a doctor or hospital before age 11 has the malpractice periods start at 11, not at 18. For a reproductive injury or an object left in the body, they start at 16. For a child whose injury was found at eight, three years from 11 means the claim can end at about 14.
Sexual abuse of a child: no deadline. Since October 1, 2023, CJ § 5-117(b) lets these claims be filed at any time, against private defendants and public ones alike. Claims that had already expired before that date can be brought too, with a cap on damages, but not if the survivor has died.
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.
Children get the lesser of three years or the normal period after turning 18
The clock does not run while the injured person is a minor. Once they turn 18 they have the lesser of three years or the ordinary period, so an injury claim from childhood can be filed until the 21st birthday. The pause does nothing if the period still has more than three years to run at 18. CJ § 5-201(a), (b).
Medical malpractice on a child starts at 11, or at 16
When a health care provider injures a child under 11, the malpractice periods start at 11, not at 18. For an injury to the reproductive system, or a foreign object left in the body, they start at 16. The general rule for minors cannot be used to stretch either one. CJ § 5-109(b), (c), (e).
A mental incompetence
A person who is mentally incompetent when the claim accrues gets the same lesser of three years or the ordinary period, counted from when the incompetence ends. The malpractice section keeps this rule in force. CJ § 5-201(a).
What does not stop the clock
The statute names three things that are not disabilities: imprisonment, absence from the State and marriage. A person in jail, or one who has moved away, is still on the ordinary clock. CJ § 5-201(c).
Fraud that hid the claim
When the other side's fraud kept the person from knowing about the claim, it accrues when the fraud was discovered, or should have been with ordinary diligence. CJ § 5-203.
The discovery rule, which the courts read into the statute
Maryland's highest court applied the discovery rule to civil actions generally, so a claim accrues when the person knew or reasonably should have known of the wrong. For a crash or a fall that is almost always the day it happened. Poffenberger v. Risser, 290 Md. 631 (1981).
Against the government, the deadline is a different one
Suing a public body runs on its own statute. In Maryland that means 1 year to give notice, under CJ § 5-304(b). Within one year of the injury, in writing, stating the time, place and cause, delivered in person or by certified mail to the office the statute names.
For Baltimore City that office is the City Solicitor. No notice is needed if the local government already had actual or constructive notice within the year, and a court can excuse a missing notice for good cause unless the defense was prejudiced.
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 Maryland
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 21 verified injury firms in Maryland, each scored on what it publishes and what can be checked about it. The highest-scoring today is WGK Personal Injury Lawyers in Baltimore, at 75. That is a computed position, not an endorsement, and the method is published.
Ranked lists by market: Baltimore injury firms.
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 Maryland 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.
- What is "Statute of Limitations"?, from Malloy Law Offices, LLC in Baltimore. A Baltimore injury firm quotes the three-year rule in § 5-101 word for word, sets it beside Virginia and D.C. for anyone hurt across a state line in the region, and flags the separate 60-day filing for a workers' compensation claim.
Questions people ask about the Maryland statute of limitations
What is the statute of limitations for personal injury in Maryland?
Three years from the day the claim accrues, under CJ § 5-101. For a crash or a fall that is the day it happened. Assault is the exception: one year, under CJ § 5-105.
How long do you have to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Maryland?
Three years from the death, under CJ § 3-904(g). If an occupational disease caused the death, it is 10 years from the death or 3 years from discovering the cause, whichever is shorter.
What is the deadline for medical malpractice in Maryland?
Five years from the injury or three years from its discovery, whichever comes first, under CJ § 5-109. For a child hurt before 11, both periods start at 11.
Does the statute of limitations stop for a minor in Maryland?
Yes. Under CJ § 5-201 the clock waits until 18, and the person then has three years, so most injury claims from childhood can be filed until 21. Malpractice runs on its own rule, and child sexual abuse claims have had no deadline since October 1, 2023.
How long do you have to sue Baltimore City, a county or the State of Maryland?
Notice to a local government is due within one year of the injury under CJ § 5-304, and a written claim to the State Treasurer within one year under SG § 12-106. A lawsuit against the State then has three years.
Where this comes from
Every period on this page was read from the official text published by The Maryland General Assembly on October 7, 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.