Reporting Sex Abuse – About Statute of Limitations

What is a Statute of Limitations?

A statute of limitations is a law which sets the maximum period which one can wait before filing a lawsuit, depending on the type of case or claim. The periods vary by State. Each individual State sets the limitations for suits filed in that particular State.  Federal statutes, however, set the limitations for suits filed in federal courts.

If the lawsuit or claim is not filed before the statutory deadline, the right to sue or make a claim is forever dead (barred). In some instances a statute of limitations can be extended (“tolled”) based on delay in discovery of the injury or on reasonable reliance on a trusted person (a fiduciary or confidential adviser who has hidden his/her own misuse of someone else’s funds or failure to pay).

A minor’s right to bring an action for injuries due to negligence is tolled until the minor turns 18 (except for a claim against a governmental agency). There are also statutes of limitations on bringing criminal charges, but homicide generally has no time limitation on prosecution. Some states have special requirements before a lawsuit can be filed, such as a written warning to a physician in a claim of malpractice, making a demand upon a state agency and then waiting for the claim to be denied or ignored for a particular period, first demanding a retraction before filing a libel suit, and other variations.

What if the Statute of Limitations Runs Out or Expires?

Once the time allowed for a case by a statute of limitations runs out, if a party raises it as a defense and that defense is accepted, any further litigation is foreclosed. Most jurisdictions provide that limitations are tolled under certain circumstances. Tolling will prevent the time for filing suit from running while the condition exists.

Examples of such circumstances are if the aggrieved party (plaintiff) is a minor. In that instance, in most jurisdictions, the running of limitations is tolled until the circumstance (i.e., the injured party reaches majority) no longer exists.

There may be a number of factors that will affect the tolling of a statute of limitations.

In many cases, the discovery of the harm (as in a medical malpractice claim where the fact or the impact of the doctor’s mistake is not immediately apparent) starts the statute running. In some jurisdictions the action is said to have not accrued until the harm is discovered; in others, the action accrues when the malpractice occurs, but an action to redress the harm is tolled until the injured party discovers the harm. An action to redress a tort committed against a minor is generally tolled in most cases until the child reaches the age of majority. A ten-year-old who is injured in a car accident might therefore be able to bring suit one, two, or three years after he turns 18.

It may also be inequitable to allow a defendant to use the defense of the running of the limitations period, such as the case of an individual in the position of authority over someone else who intimidates the victim into never reporting the wrongdoing, or where one is led to believe that the other party has agreed to suspend the limitations period during good faith settlement negotiations or due to a fraudulent misrepresentation.

Can a Statute of Limitations be Delayed, Suspended or Tolled?

Tolling the statute is to delay, suspend or hold off the effect of a statute.

Examples:

a) A minor is injured in an accident when he is 14 years old, and the state law (statute of limitations) allows a person hurt by negligence two years to file suit for damages. But for a minor the statute is “tolled” until he/she becomes 18 and decides whether or not to sue. Thus the minor has two years after 18 to file suit.

b) State law allows 10 years to collect a judgment, but if the judgment debtor (party who owes the judgment amount) leaves the state, the time is “tolled,” so the judgment creditor (party to whom judgment is owed) will have extra time to enforce the judgment equal to the time the debtor was out of state.

Go To Our Sex Abuse Statute of Limitations by State List