Massachusetts Statute of Limitations 2026: Deadlines by Claim
Massachusetts gives most injury claims 3 years, and that is the number people remember. The deadlines that end cases are much shorter and sit in other chapters: 30 days to give notice of a pothole or a broken sidewalk, 30 days to report a hit-and-run to the police and the RMV, and 2 years to put a claim against a city or town in writing. Here is every Massachusetts deadline by type of claim, read from the General Laws.
Every Massachusetts 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 injuryCovers every action of tort, and contract actions that seek damages for a personal injury, unless another section says otherwise. | 3 years | From the day the cause of action accrues. For a crash or a fall that is the day it happened. | M.G.L. c. 260, § 2A |
| Wrongful deathBrought by the executor or administrator, not by the family directly. Punitive damages of at least $5,000 are available for gross negligence or reckless conduct. | 3 years | From the death, or from when the executor or administrator knew or should have known the facts behind the claim. | M.G.L. c. 229, § 2 |
| Medical malpracticeThe seven-year cap does not apply when a foreign object was left in the body. Every case first goes before a three-member tribunal under c. 231, § 60B. | 3 years, 7 at the outside | Three years from accrual, but never more than seven years after the act or omission. | M.G.L. c. 260, § 4 |
| Assault and batteryMassachusetts names assault and battery together and gives both the same three years. Maryland, by contrast, gives assault one year. | 3 years | From the day the cause of action accrues. | M.G.L. c. 260, § 4 |
| Libel and slander | 3 years | From the day the cause of action accrues. | M.G.L. c. 260, § 4 |
| Hit-and-run: notice to the police and the registrarNo action under this section after three years from the crash, however late the driver is found. | 30 days to give notice | Written notice of the time, place and facts within 30 days of the crash. The lawsuit can then wait until six months after the driver is identified. | M.G.L. c. 260, § 4B |
| Child sexual abuseThe clock does not start running until the child turns 18. | 35 years, or 7 from discovery | Whichever ends later: 35 years from the abuse, or 7 years from when the survivor discovered, or should have discovered, that it caused an emotional or psychological injury. | M.G.L. c. 260, § 4C |
| Workers' compensationNotice to the employer or insurer is due as soon as practicable, separately from the four-year claim. | 4 years | From the date the employee first became aware that the disability was caused by the job. For a death, four years from the death. | M.G.L. c. 152, § 41 |
| Injury from a defective building or structureCovers design, planning and construction claims against architects, engineers and builders. | 3 years, 6 at the outside | Three years from accrual, and never more than six years after the improvement opened for use or was substantially completed and occupied. | M.G.L. c. 260, § 2B |
| Property | |||
| Damage to propertyThe car in a crash runs on the same three years as the people in it. | 3 years | From the damage. | M.G.L. c. 260, § 2A |
| Contracts and money | |||
| Contract, written or oralMassachusetts draws no line between written and oral contracts. A contract claim for a personal injury falls back to three years under § 2A. | 6 years | From the breach. | M.G.L. c. 260, § 2 |
| Contracts under sealAlso covers bank notes and promissory notes signed before an attesting witness, when the original payee sues. | 20 years | From accrual. | M.G.L. c. 260, § 1 |
| Consumer protection (Chapter 93A)A consumer suing under c. 93A, § 9 must first mail a written demand for relief at least 30 days before filing. | 4 years | From accrual. | M.G.L. c. 260, § 5A |
| Claims against the government | |||
| Written claim to a public employerFor a city or town it can go to the mayor, manager, city solicitor, town counsel or clerk; for the Commonwealth, to the Attorney General. Silence for six months counts as a denial. | 2 years | Within two years of the day the claim arose, in writing, to the executive officer of the public employer. | M.G.L. c. 258, § 4 |
| Lawsuit against a public employer | 3 years | From the day the cause of action accrued, and only after the written claim has been denied. | M.G.L. c. 258, § 4 |
| Notice of a defect in a public wayThe lawsuit itself then has three years. A missing notice is no defense for an injury caused by snow or ice unless the defendant shows it was prejudiced. Section 19 says who the notice goes to. | 30 days to give notice | Written notice within 30 days of the injury to the county, city, town or person responsible for the road, naming the injured person and the time, place and cause. | M.G.L. c. 84, § 18 |
| Other | |||
| Civil rights and discriminationCovers claims under any law protecting civil rights, including discrimination in employment and housing. | 3 years | From accrual. | M.G.L. c. 260, § 5B |
The General Court of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 260 (Limitation of Actions) and the other statutes cited in each row, read on October 9, 2026. Each citation links to the official text.
Massachusetts filing deadlines, shortest first, in years
In Massachusetts, the 30-day notices are the ones that end cases
Three years is long enough that people stop watching the calendar. Massachusetts has deadlines that run out in weeks, and most of them are notice rules rather than filing rules, which is why they get missed.
30 days for a defect in a road or sidewalk. Someone hurt by a pothole, a heaved sidewalk or a broken curb on a public way has to send written notice within 30 days to the city, town, county or whoever must keep that way in repair, under M.G.L. c. 84, § 18. The notice has to give the name and address of the injured person and the time, place and cause of the injury. The lawsuit can follow within three years, but without the notice there may be nothing to file. The one softening: when the injury came from snow or ice, a missing notice only defeats the claim if the town shows it was prejudiced.
30 days after a hit-and-run. When the driver who caused a crash did not stop, M.G.L. c. 260, § 4B lets the lawsuit wait until six months after the driver is identified. That extra time depends on written notice to the police and to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles within 30 days of the crash, and it still ends three years after the crash.
2 years for a claim against a city, town or the Commonwealth. Under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, M.G.L. c. 258, § 4, no lawsuit can be filed against a public employer until the claim has been presented in writing to its executive officer within 2 years. For a city or town that can be the mayor, the manager, the city solicitor, town counsel or the clerk. For the Commonwealth it is the Attorney General. If there is no answer in six months, the claim counts as denied, and the lawsuit then has 3 years from when the claim arose.
4 years for a work injury. A workers' compensation claim has 4 years under M.G.L. c. 152, § 41, counted from when the employee first knew the disability came from the job. The notice to the employer or insurer is a separate step and is due as soon as practicable.
One more Massachusetts rule a reader should know, even though it is not a deadline. Under M.G.L. c. 231, § 85, an injured person who was partly at fault can still recover as long as their share of the negligence is not greater than the defendants' combined share, with the award cut by their percentage. At 51 percent or more, they recover nothing.
A child's claim in Massachusetts: 21, 9 or 35 years
Massachusetts has three different answers to the question of how long a child has, depending on the claim.
Most injuries: until 21. Under M.G.L. c. 260, § 7, the ordinary three years start when the child turns 18, so the claim can be filed until the 21st birthday. A claim against a city or town is the trap here: the two-year written claim under the Tort Claims Act has no exception for minors.
Medical malpractice: three years, or until nine. Under M.G.L. c. 231, § 60D, the rule for minors does not apply to claims against a doctor or hospital. A child's malpractice claim has three years from when it accrues, except that a child hurt before age six has until the ninth birthday. Seven years after the act, the claim ends no matter what, unless something was left in the body.
Sexual abuse of a child: 35 years, or 7 from discovery. Under M.G.L. c. 260, § 4C, a survivor has whichever ends later: 35 years from the abuse, or 7 years from when they discovered, or should have discovered, that it caused an emotional or psychological injury. Neither clock starts before the child turns 18.
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.
A child's clock starts at 18
When the injured person is a minor, the ordinary period runs from when the disability ends, so an injury claim from childhood can be filed until the 21st birthday. The written claim to a public employer is a separate requirement, and the statute that sets it has no exception for minors. M.G.L. c. 260, § 7.
Medical malpractice on a child has its own rule
The general rule for minors does not apply. A child's malpractice claim has three years from accrual, except that a child hurt before age six has until the ninth birthday. In every case the claim ends seven years after the act, unless a foreign object was left in the body. M.G.L. c. 231, § 60D.
Mental illness when the claim arose
A person incapacitated by mental illness when the claim first accrues gets the ordinary period from when the incapacity ends. M.G.L. c. 260, § 7.
A defendant who lives outside Massachusetts
Time the defendant spends residing outside the Commonwealth is left out of the count. The section does not revive a claim already barred by the law of the state where the person bringing it lived. M.G.L. c. 260, § 9.
Fraud that hid the claim
When the person responsible fraudulently concealed the claim, the time before discovery does not count. M.G.L. c. 260, § 12.
The discovery rule, which the courts read into the statute
The Supreme Judicial Court held that a claim accrues when the injured person knew or reasonably should have known that they were harmed by someone's conduct. For a crash or a fall that is almost always the day it happened. It matters for injuries that surface late, such as a missed diagnosis. Franklin v. Albert, 381 Mass. 611 (1980).
Against the government, the deadline is a different one
Suing a public body runs on its own statute. In Massachusetts that means 2 years, under M.G.L. c. 258, § 4. Within two years of the day the claim arose, in writing, to the executive officer of the public employer.
For a city or town it can go to the mayor, manager, city solicitor, town counsel or clerk; for the Commonwealth, to the Attorney General. Silence for six months counts as a denial.
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 Massachusetts
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 26 verified injury firms in Massachusetts, each scored on what it publishes and what can be checked about it. The highest-scoring today is Jason Stone Injury Lawyers in Boston, at 73. That is a computed position, not an endorsement, and the method is published.
Ranked lists by market: Boston 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 Massachusetts 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.
- Statute of Limitations for a Car Accident in Massachusetts, from Brooks Law Firm in Boston. A Boston injury firm walks a crash claim through the same sections cited here: three years under § 2A, the two-year presentment to a public employer, the 30-day notice for a defective road, and the pauses for a minor, a defendant living out of state and fraud. It adds the five-day crash report the RMV requires, which is not a limitations period but trips people up just as often.
Questions people ask about the Massachusetts statute of limitations
What is the statute of limitations for personal injury in Massachusetts?
Three years from the day the claim accrues, under M.G.L. c. 260, § 2A. For a crash or a fall that is the day it happened. Assault and battery run on the same three years, under § 4.
How long do you have to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Massachusetts?
Three years from the death, or from when the executor or administrator knew or should have known the facts behind the claim, under M.G.L. c. 229, § 2.
What is the deadline for medical malpractice in Massachusetts?
Three years from when the claim accrues, and never more than seven years after the act, under M.G.L. c. 260, § 4. For a child hurt before age six, the claim can be filed until the ninth birthday under c. 231, § 60D.
Does the statute of limitations stop for a minor in Massachusetts?
Yes. Under M.G.L. c. 260, § 7 the ordinary period runs from the 18th birthday, so most injury claims from childhood can be filed until 21. Medical malpractice follows c. 231, § 60D instead, and child sexual abuse claims have 35 years under c. 260, § 4C.
How long do you have to sue a city, town or the Commonwealth in Massachusetts?
A written claim to the public employer is due within two years under M.G.L. c. 258, § 4, and the lawsuit within three years. An injury from a defect in a public road or sidewalk needs written notice within 30 days under c. 84, § 18.
Where this comes from
Every period on this page was read from the official text published by The General Court of Massachusetts on October 9, 2026, and each row links to the section it comes from. The Legislature's own server could not be reached while this guide was written, so the sections were read through the Internet Archive's captures of the Legislature's own section pages, taken between September 2025 and October 2026, and every row links to the official chapter. 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.