Deadlines that quietly end California injury claims
California gives most injured people two years to file suit. Several important categories give far less, and the shortest deadlines apply to exactly the defendants people are slowest to identify: cities, counties, transit agencies, school districts, and the state itself.
01The general rules
Personal injury actions generally must be filed within two years of the injury. Wrongful death actions run two years from the date of death, which is not always the date of the incident. Property damage claims run three years.
- Two years — most personal injury and wrongful death actions
- Six months — claims against public entities must first be presented under the Government Claims Act
- One year from discovery — certain medical negligence claims, with an outer limit of three years
- Tolled until age 18 — minors, with important exceptions for public-entity claims
02The six-month trap
If a government entity contributed to the harm — a dangerous intersection, an unlit crosswalk, a transit bus, a public-utility vehicle — a written claim must usually be presented within six months. Miss it, and the claim is barred regardless of how strong the liability evidence is. Because roadway-design and public-vehicle involvement is often discovered weeks into an investigation, the clock is frequently running before anyone knows the entity is a defendant.
03Delayed discovery and why it is not a safety net
The discovery rule can postpone the start of the clock where an injury or its cause could not reasonably have been known — some toxic exposure, product defect, and surgical cases qualify. Courts read the rule narrowly, and relying on it is a litigation position, not a plan. Treat the earliest arguable date as the real deadline.
This article is general information about California and Nevada law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Outcomes depend on the specific facts of each matter; prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.