Statute of limitations: Louisiana

Louisiana statute of limitations by claim

In Louisiana you generally have 2 years to sue for personal injury, 2 years for property damage, 10 years on a written contract and 10 years on an oral one, but only 2 years for defamation.^[1][4] The table lists every common civil claim with the statute and the notes that change it.

What is different in Louisiana

Louisiana calls the deadline “liberative prescription,” and it differs from the rest of the country in two ways. Prescription generally runs against minors, so a child’s claim is not automatically paused until age 18 (exceptions include abuse of a minor and product cases with permanent disability). And because contracts get 10 years whether written or oral, a contract claim is often the longest door left open. Wrongful death and survival actions run 1 year from death or 2 years from the injury, whichever is longer.

• Act 423 of 2024 (HB 315) doubled tort prescription from 1 to 2 years and repealed La. Civ. Code arts. 3492 and 3493, effective July 1, 2024. It applies only to actions arising after that date; earlier injuries keep the 1-year period. (La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1; Acts 2024, No. 423)^[10]
• Unlike most states, Louisiana generally lets prescription run against minors; the child's claim is not automatically paused until age 18. (La. Civ. Code art. 3468)^[11]
• Wrongful death and survival actions now prescribe 1 year from death or 2 years from the injury, whichever is longer (Acts 2025, Nos. 176 and 488); medical-malpractice wrongful death stays at 1 year from death. (La. Civ. Code arts. 2315.1, 2315.2)^[12]
• Contract claims (written or oral) have 10 years, but open accounts and money lent have only 3 years and promissory notes 5 years. (La. Civ. Code arts. 3494, 3498, 3499)^[13]

When the clock starts and stops

By statute, damage to immovable property runs from the owner's knowledge (art. 3493.2), and medical malpractice has a 1-year discovery rule capped at 3 years (R.S. 9:5628). (La. Civ. Code art. 3493.2; La. R.S. 9:5628)

Minors. Louisiana does not generally pause the clock for minors. Prescription runs against minors unless legislation creates an exception. Exceptions include: suspension between parents and children during minority (art. 3469); product-liability cases involving permanent disability (art. 3493.1); abuse of a minor, which has 3 years after reaching majority (art. 3496.1). Medical malpractice prescription runs against minors too.^[6]

Other tolling. Prescription is suspended between spouses during marriage, between parents and minor children, and between tutors and minors (art. 3469); a debtor's acknowledgment interrupts prescription (art. 3464).

Suing the government in Louisiana

Claims against a public body follow their own rules, and a missed notice can end the claim even when the ordinary limitation period is still open.^[7][8]

Criminal statute of limitations in Louisiana

Most felonies in Louisiana: 6 years for felonies necessarily punishable by hard labor; 4 years for other felonies. Misdemeanors: 2 years; 6 months if punishable only by a fine or forfeiture.^[9] Prosecutors must file charges within these periods; the victim’s civil deadline is separate.

Worked example

A collision on I-10 in Baton Rouge on March 8, 2025: under the personal injury deadline is March 8, 2027. For an injury before July 1, 2024, the former 1-year period applies instead.

For a claim of $5,000 or less, Louisiana’s small claims (Small Claims Division of City Court or Parish Court; Justice of the Peace Court) is usually faster and cheaper; compare the small claims limit by state.^[14] To value an injury claim, try the car accident settlement calculator; for medical cases, compare the medical malpractice statute of limitations in other states. All states are on the statute of limitations by state page.