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Statute of Limitations by State

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Civil & Personal Injury Actions

Virginia

• Personal Injury: Two years
• Product Liability: Two years
• Professional Malpractice: Most medical malpractice actions must be commenced within two years of the date of the act or omission giving rise to the claim. For medical malpractice actions involving the presence of a foreign object inside the body, any claim must be filed within one year from the date the object was or reasonably should have been discovered, but no such action may be filed more than ten years after the date the object was inserted.
• Injury to Personal Property: Five years
• Fraud: Two years
• Libel - Slander - Defamation: Two years
• Contracts: Written: five years; Oral: three years

Washington

• Personal Injury: Three years
• Product Liability: Three years from the date of injury, or within three years of the date the injury was or reasonably should have been discovered.
• Professional Malpractice: Medical malpractice actions may be filed within three years of the date of the act or omission giving rise to the injury, or within one year of the date the injury was or reasonably should have been discovered, whichever is later. However, no medical malpractice action may be filed more than eight years after the date of the act or omission giving rise to the injury.
• Injury to Personal Property: Three years
• Fraud: Three years
• Libel - Slander - Defamation: Two years
• Contracts: Written: six years; Oral: three years

Washington D.C.

• Personal Injury: Three years
• Product Liability: Three years
• Professional Malpractice: Professional negligence actions, including medical malpractice lawsuits, must be filed within three years.
• Fraud Three years
• Libel - Slander - Defamation: One year
• Contracts: Three years

West Virginia

• Personal Injury: Two years
• Product Liability: Two years from the date the injury occurred, or within two years from the date the injury was or reasonably should have been detected.
• Professional Malpractice: Professional negligence actions, including medical malpractice suits, must be filed within two years from the date the injury occurred, or within two years from the date the injury was or reasonably should have been detected.
• Injury to Personal Property: Two years
• Libel - Slander - Defamation: One year
• Contracts: Written: ten years; Oral: five years

Wisconsin

• Personal Injury: Three years
• Product Liability: Three years
• Professional Malpractice: Medical malpractice actions must be filed within three years of the date of the act or omission resulting in injury, or one year from the date the injury was or reasonably should have been discovered, whichever is later. However no medical malpractice action may be filed more than five years from the date of the act or omission underlying the claim.
• Injury to Personal Property: Six years
• Fraud: Six years
• Libel - Slander - Defamation: Two years
• Contracts: Six years

Wyoming

• Personal Injury: Four years
• Product Liability: Four years
• Professional Malpractice: Medical malpractice actions must be filed within two years of the date of the act or omission giving rise to the injury, or within two years of the date the injury was or reasonably should have been discovered.
• Injury to Personal Property Four years
• Libel - Slander - Defamation: One year
• Contracts: Written: ten years; Oral: eight years

All States

AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA D.C. WV WI WY