Statute of limitations in Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, a person who wants to sue over a personal injury generally has three years to file the lawsuit in court. That period comes from Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260 § 2A, the statute that sets the deadline for tort actions covering bodily harm. Once that window closes, a court can dismiss the case no matter how strong the underlying facts might be.

A statute of limitations is the legal clock on a civil claim. It fixes the outer limit for starting a lawsuit, and it applies whether the dispute is settled by negotiation or heads to trial. The Massachusetts Legislature sets these periods, and different kinds of claims carry different deadlines.

This guide explains how the three-year personal injury period works, when the clock usually starts, and the situations that can pause or shift it. It offers general legal information rather than advice about any one situation. For a question tied to your own facts, a licensed Massachusetts attorney can confirm which period applies.

The deadline does not run from some fixed calendar date. It runs from the moment a claim accrues, which is the point at which the right to sue comes into being. For many personal injury claims, accrual lines up with the day the injury happened, and the three-year count begins then.

Some harms are not obvious right away. Massachusetts courts recognize that a person may not know, and may have no reasonable way to know, that they were hurt or what caused the harm. In those cases, the state applies a discovery approach: the clock can start when the injured person knew or reasonably should have known both that they suffered harm and that it was linked to someone's conduct. This idea matters most with injuries that surface slowly or causes that stay hidden.

Because accrual can turn on what a person knew and when, the starting date is sometimes disputed. The general three-year length under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260 § 2A stays the same; what shifts is the day the counting begins. Pinning down that date early makes a real difference, and it is one of the first things a licensed attorney will examine.

Certain circumstances pause the clock, a concept lawyers call tolling, or change how the deadline applies. These rules are set by statute and by court decisions, and they can be technical.

Age and capacity are common examples. When the injured person is a minor or is under a legal disability at the time a claim accrues, Massachusetts law generally holds the clock so that the person is not shut out before they can act. The pause is tied to the condition, and it does not last indefinitely.

A defendant's absence from the state can also matter. If the person who would be sued leaves Massachusetts, the time they are gone may not count against the deadline in the same way, which can extend how long a claimant has.

Claims against government bodies follow their own track. Suing a city, town, or state agency often requires sending a formal notice within a shorter window and following specific procedures before any lawsuit can move forward. Because those notice periods and steps differ from the general rule and are not listed in the table on this page, check the governing statute or ask a licensed Massachusetts attorney rather than assuming the three-year period applies.

This page currently lists one claim type, and the notes below track it directly.

Personal injury carries a three-year deadline under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260 § 2A. This category covers civil actions for bodily harm caused by another party's conduct, such as injuries from a vehicle collision, a fall on unsafe property, or a defective product. The claim is about the physical harm and the losses that flow from it, and the three-year period is the general limit for bringing that kind of tort action.

Other claim types run on different clocks. Written contracts, professional malpractice, defamation, property damage, and wrongful death each have their own limitation periods, and several carry special accrual or notice rules. Because those deadlines are not part of the table on this page, this guide does not assign them a number. When your question involves one of those categories, the Massachusetts General Laws set out the governing period, and a licensed attorney can confirm which section controls.

Waiting until a deadline is close narrows your options. Acting early, while records are fresh and documents are easy to find, keeps them open.

Start by preserving anything connected to the injury. Medical records, bills, photographs, incident reports, receipts, and the names of witnesses all help establish what happened and when. Written notes made close to the event tend to be more reliable than memory months later.

Next, confirm the period that actually applies to your situation. The three-year figure under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260 § 2A is the general rule for personal injury, but the accrual date, a possible tolling rule, or a government defendant can all affect the real deadline in your case. Working out that date is worth doing sooner rather than later.

Finally, consider speaking with a licensed Massachusetts attorney before the window closes. A lawyer can review the facts, identify the controlling statute, and explain the steps involved in filing. This guide provides general information only, and it is not a substitute for advice about your specific claim.