Several States Shortened or Extended Statute of Limitations Periods in Recent Legislative Sessions

Published 2026-03-19 · Legal Niche Pros

Statute of limitations periods are not fixed forever, and a number of states have adjusted theirs in recent legislative sessions, according to a tracker maintained by legal research site CaseFleet. Florida shortened its general personal injury negligence deadline from four years to two years under a 2023 law, while Louisiana extended its one-year personal injury deadline to two years under a 2024 statute.

Medical malpractice deadlines have moved in both directions as well: Nevada restructured its rule to four years from the date of injury or two years from discovery, Utah extended its discovery-based deadline from two to four years while adding an eight-year outer repose cap, and Minnesota shortened its medical malpractice deadline from four years to two years under 2025 legislation.

Separate from ordinary limitations changes, several states have also passed 'revival' statutes temporarily reopening previously expired claims for specific categories, most notably child sexual abuse claims — including New York's Adult Survivors Act and Maryland's Child Victims Act of 2023 — though some state supreme courts, including in Utah, Kentucky, and Colorado, have since struck down similar revival provisions as unconstitutional under their own state constitutions.

The pattern underscores a point worth repeating for anyone estimating their own deadline: statutes of limitations are not static, they vary by claim type within the same state, and a filing deadline that applied a few years ago may no longer be accurate today.

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Read: Statute of Limitations Explained — When Does Your Legal Deadline Actually Start →