A serious personal injury can complicate your life in multiple ways. First, you must deal with the pain and suffering of physical impairment as well as any disruption to your everyday activities.
You also need to navigate the rules of the California court system, including meeting filing deadlines.
The concept of a statute of limitations
According to the Judicial Council of California, a statute of limitations refers to a deadline for filing a lawsuit. In most cases, once the statute of limitations runs out, the legal case is no longer valid. The time period for filing depends upon the type of legal claim you hope to pursue.
Finding out how long a filing period lasts for different situations sometimes involves complicated factors. For example, some crimes such as murder have no statute of limitations.
Other crimes such as the breach of a written contract have a four-year period for filing, while a property damage case has a three-year period. The filing period can also depend upon the agency involved in the claim.
The statute of limitations for personal injury cases
If you have a personal injury case, you must file the paperwork within two years of the injury; however, several exceptions do exist. Sometimes, the injury does not become apparent until a later date; in these situations, the filing deadline defaults to one year after the discovery of the injury.
If you have a case against a government agency, you must file a lawsuit within six months of the date of the injury. A few exceptions to this rule do exist. The government agency has 45 days to respond. The appeals process for filing paperwork also has a system of deadlines you must consider.