Texas statute of limitations

This table is the fast answer. Each period is followed by the statute it comes from, and every one was verified against the primary Texas source on July 21, 2026. Where two periods could apply, the shorter usually controls — and the government-claim notice deadline (see § 6) is the shortest of all.

Most Texas injury claims run two years from the date of the wrongful act, under Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.003(a). The same two-year clock covers car, truck, motorcycle, and pedestrian accidents, slip-and-falls, and assault, because all are personal-injury claims under one statute. The clock normally starts on the date of the injury — not when treatment ends and not while you negotiate with an insurer, which is the single most common way a valid claim is lost. Texas applies the discovery rule narrowly: it defers the start only when the injury was inherently undiscoverable and objectively verifiable.

Two years, measured from a fixed date — Texas gives you no general discovery rule here. Under § 74.251, a health-care-liability claim must be filed within two years of the negligent act, or of the completion of the specific treatment or hospitalization at issue. Because the period runs from the occurrence rather than from discovery, a late-found error can expire before you ever learn of it. A separate 10-year statute of repose (§ 74.251(b)) bars every claim after ten years, no matter what.

Most Texas debt and contract claims carry a four-year deadline. Written contracts, oral contracts, and debt all run four years under § 16.004 (with the residual § 16.051) — Texas does not shorten oral agreements. The clock generally starts on the date of breach or default. As elsewhere, making a payment or acknowledging an old debt in writing can restart the four-year clock, so understand that before responding to a collector.

You may have as little as a few weeks to notify a Texas government entity. The Texas Tort Claims Act (§ 101.101) requires written notice within six months of the incident — but the statute expressly ratifies shorter deadlines in city charters and ordinances, and many Texas cities require notice within 45, 60, or 90 days. This notice is on top of the two-year lawsuit deadline, and missing it usually ends the claim. If any public entity or employee may be involved, treat the shortest city deadline — not two years — as your working clock.

A statute of limitations is an affirmative defense. If you file even one day late, the defendant raises the expired deadline and the court must dismiss the case — no matter how clear the liability or how serious the harm. Insurers and their lawyers track these dates precisely. Narrow exceptions can pause the clock — the plaintiff was a minor or legally incapacitated, the defendant left Texas, or a statutory discovery rule applies — but none are safe to rely on without legal advice.

Each period above is cited to the controlling statute and was verified against the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code (statutes.capitol.texas.gov) on July 21, 2026. Personal-injury periods are additionally cross-checked and stamped Exact in the calculator.