Side-by-side deadline comparisons for all 50 US states — sorted by region, case type, or deadline length. Find out how your state compares.
Select a case type to see how all 50 states compare side by side, sorted from shortest to longest deadline.
See how deadlines cluster by geography. Southern states and Midwestern states often have different approaches to filing deadlines than coastal states.
Use the filter below to compare any case type across all 50 states. Click any column header to sort.
| State ↕ | Years ↕ | Official Statute | Key Exception |
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The United States has no single federal statute of limitations for civil cases (with limited exceptions under federal law). Each of the 50 state legislatures independently sets its own deadlines, which is why a personal injury victim in Kentucky has only 1 year to file while someone in Maine has 6 years for the same type of claim.
These differences reflect each state's policy choices about balancing the rights of injured parties against the interests of defendants in having certainty and finality.
State legislatures regularly amend their statutes of limitations. Recent examples include Florida shortening its personal injury deadline from 4 to 2 years in 2023, Louisiana extending from 1 to 2 years in 2024, and both Minnesota and Missouri shortening their medical malpractice deadlines in 2025.
This is why it is critical to verify current law rather than relying on information that may be outdated. All data on this site reflects verified 2026 statutes.
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