Texas Statute of Limitations 2026: The 2-Year Rule and Its Exceptions
Texas gives most injury claims 2 years. That is the number everybody knows, and it is the one least likely to be the problem. The deadlines that end Texas cases early are the short ones beside it: a 6 months to give notice against a city or the state, 1 year for defamation, and a medical malpractice rule that ignores the usual protection for children. Here is every Texas deadline by type of claim, read from the Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
Every Texas 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 injuryAsbestos and silica injuries, trade secrets and sexual offenses have their own rules elsewhere in the chapter. | 2 years | From the day the claim accrues, which for a crash or a fall is the day it happened. | § 16.003(a) |
| Wrongful deathThe statute says it in one line: the claim accrues on the death of the injured person. | 2 years | From the date of death, not the date of the injury that caused it. | § 16.003(b) |
| Medical malpractice (health care liability)Ten years after the act, every claim is barred. A child hurt before age 12 has until the 14th birthday, and the usual tolling for minors does not apply. | 2 years, 10 at the outside | From the treatment complained of, or from the end of the course of treatment or hospitalization. | § 74.251 |
| Injury from a defective productA written warranty promising a longer safe life replaces the 15 years, and a latent disease from exposure inside the 15 years is excepted. | 2 years, 15 at the outside | Two years from the injury, inside a 15-year repose period counted from the sale. | § 16.003(a), § 16.012(b) |
| Libel, slander and malicious prosecutionThe shortest civil deadline in the chapter, and the one most often missed. | 1 year | From the day the claim accrues. | § 16.002(a) |
| Sexual assault of an adultAlso covers human trafficking and compelled prostitution. | 5 years | From the day the claim accrues. | § 16.0045(b) |
| Sexual abuse of a child | 30 years | From the day the claim accrues. Under § 16.001 the years before a survivor turns 18 generally do not count. | § 16.0045(a) |
| Property | |||
| Property damageThe statute words it as trespass for injury to the estate or property of another. | 2 years | From the day of the damage. | § 16.003(a) |
| Conversion of personal propertyCovers taking or keeping someone else's property. | 2 years | From the taking. | § 16.003(a) |
| Contracts and money | |||
| Contract, written or oral, and debtTexas has no separate period for oral agreements. Open accounts run four years from the day the dealings stop. | 4 years | From the breach. | § 16.004(a)(3), § 16.051 |
| Fraud | 4 years | From the day the claim accrues. | § 16.004(a)(4) |
| Breach of fiduciary duty | 4 years | From the day the claim accrues. | § 16.004(a)(5) |
| 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. | Bus. & Com. Code § 2.725 |
| Claims against the government | |||
| Notice of a claim against a governmental unitThis is a notice deadline, not the deadline to sue. A city charter can set a shorter one, and the rule does not apply if the government already had actual notice. | 6 months to give notice | Written notice within six months of the incident, describing the injury, the time, the place and what happened. | § 101.101(a) |
The Texas Legislature, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Chapter 16 and the other statutes cited in each row, read on October 4, 2026. Each citation links to the official text.
Texas filing deadlines, shortest first, in years
The deadlines that end Texas cases early are the short ones
Two years is long enough that most people do not miss it. The periods that catch people are the ones nobody expects to be shorter.
Six months against the government. A claim under the Texas Tort Claims Act needs written notice within six months of the incident, under § 101.101(a). A city charter can require it sooner, and the notice has to describe the injury, the time, the place and what happened. A crash with a city vehicle or a fall on public property puts the claim on this clock from the first day.
One year for defamation. Libel, slander and malicious prosecution have a single year under § 16.002(a). It is the shortest civil deadline in the chapter.
Two years that may already have started. Texas has no general discovery rule in its statutes. The Texas Supreme Court allows one only when an injury was inherently undiscoverable and the evidence is objectively verifiable. A back injury that gets worse a month after a crash does not qualify: the clock started on the day of the crash.
In malpractice, a Texas child does not get the usual extra time
For most claims, the years before a Texas child turns 18 do not count, under § 16.001. A child hurt in a crash at 10 generally has until 20.
Medical malpractice is different. Under § 74.251, a child injured by medical care before age 12 has until the 14th birthday, and the ordinary tolling for minors does not apply. Every malpractice claim, for adults and children alike, is barred ten years after the act, whatever was discovered later.
The same section starts the two years from the treatment complained of, or from the end of a course of treatment. Before suit, Texas also requires written notice to the provider, which is one more reason a malpractice case needs a lawyer well before the deadline.
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.
Minors and people of unsound mind
If the injured person is under 18 or of unsound mind when the claim accrues, that time does not count, so a child's two years usually start on the 18th birthday. A disability that begins after the clock is already running does not pause it, and one disability cannot be stacked on another. § 16.001.
The discovery rule, which a court made
No Texas statute sets a general discovery rule. The Texas Supreme Court created one, and it delays the clock only when the injury was inherently undiscoverable and the evidence of it is objectively verifiable. A late-appearing car accident injury almost never qualifies. Computer Associates Int'l v. Altai, 918 S.W.2d 453 (Tex. 1996).
Fraudulent concealment
A defendant who hid the wrongdoing can be barred from relying on the deadline until the plaintiff discovered it or should have. Chapter 16 has no general provision for it, so it is argued case by case. Court-made doctrine.
A deadline that lands on a weekend
If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the deadline moves to the next day county offices are open. It applies to every statute of limitations in Texas, not only the ones in Chapter 16. § 16.072.
Against the government, the deadline is a different one
Suing a public body runs on its own statute. In Texas that means 6 months to give notice, under § 101.101(a). Written notice within six months of the incident, describing the injury, the time, the place and what happened.
This is a notice deadline, not the deadline to sue. A city charter can set a shorter one, and the rule does not apply if the government already had actual notice.
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 Texas
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 114 verified injury firms in Texas, each scored on what it publishes and what can be checked about it. The highest-scoring today is Sutliff & Stout in Houston, at 76. That is a computed position, not an endorsement, and the method is published.
Ranked lists by market: Dallas injury firms, Houston injury firms and San Antonio 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 Texas 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.
- The Statute of Limitations in Texas Personal Injury Cases, from Fielding Law in Dallas. A Dallas injury firm on how the two-year rule meets real claims, including the notice requirements for government defendants and the limits of the discovery rule.
Questions people ask about the Texas statute of limitations
What is the statute of limitations for personal injury in Texas?
Two years from the day the claim accrues, under § 16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. That covers car accidents, falls and most other injuries caused by someone's negligence.
How long do you have to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Texas?
Two years from the date of death, under § 16.003(b). The clock starts at the death, not at the accident that caused it.
What is the deadline for medical malpractice in Texas?
Two years from the treatment or the end of the course of treatment, under § 74.251, with an absolute limit of ten years. A child injured before 12 has until the 14th birthday.
Does the statute of limitations stop for a minor in Texas?
Yes, for most claims. Under § 16.001 the time a person is under 18 does not count, so the two years generally start on the 18th birthday. Medical malpractice is the main exception.
How long do you have to sue a Texas city or the state?
The Tort Claims Act requires written notice within six months of the incident under § 101.101, and some city charters require it sooner. Missing the notice can end the claim before the two-year lawsuit deadline matters.
Where this comes from
Every period on this page was read from the official text published by The Texas 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.