Louisiana Statute of Limitations: Filing Deadlines by Case Type

Louisiana calls its filing deadlines prescriptive periods, not statutes of limitations. Under Civil Code Article 3493.11, most tort claims carry a two-year prescriptive period for injuries occurring on or after July 1, 2024. Contract claims not covered by a shorter period run ten years under Article 3499, but most debt-collection claims (money lent, open accounts, and credit cards) run only three years under Article 3494, and murder carries no time limit.

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What Is the Statute of Limitations in Louisiana?

Louisiana stands apart from every other U.S. state in its legal terminology and traditions. Because Louisiana law descends from the French and Spanish civil law systems rather than English common law, it uses the term "prescriptive period" (or "liberative prescription") instead of "statute of limitations" for civil claims.

The practical effect is the same. A prescriptive period sets a deadline for filing a lawsuit or pressing criminal charges. If you miss that deadline, the opposing party can raise a defense of prescription and ask the court to dismiss the case. Once dismissed on prescription grounds, the claim is lost permanently.

Louisiana recently made a major change to its civil prescriptive periods. Effective July 1, 2024, Act 423 (House Bill 315) extended the prescriptive period for tort claims from one year to two years. This was the first change to that deadline since the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825.

Louisiana Civil Prescriptive Periods

Louisiana groups civil prescriptive periods into several categories based on the type of claim. Below is a detailed breakdown of current filing deadlines.

Delictual (Tort) Actions: Two Years

Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 3493.11, delictual actions are subject to a liberative prescription of two years. Prescription begins to run from the day the injury or damage is sustained.

This two-year period applies to most tort claims, including:

• Personal injury (car accidents, slip and fall, negligence)
• Libel and slander (defamation)
• Fraud
• Injury to personal property
• Trespass

Important transition rule: The two-year period applies only to injuries that occurred on or after July 1, 2024. If the injury occurred before that date, the previous one-year prescriptive period under the now-repealed Civil Code Article 3492 still applies.

Damage to Immovable Property: Two Years

Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 3493.12, damage to immovable (real) property also carries a two-year prescriptive period. However, the clock starts differently than for other tort claims.

For immovable property damage, the two-year period begins from the day the property owner acquired, or should have acquired, knowledge of the damage. This "discovery rule" gives owners additional time when damage is not immediately apparent.

Wrongful Death Actions: One Year From Death or Two Years From Injury

Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315.2, the right to bring a wrongful death action prescribes one year from the death of the deceased or two years from the day the injury or damage was sustained, whichever period is longer. That two-year alternative does not apply to wrongful death actions based on medical malpractice: under Article 2315.2(F), a medical malpractice wrongful death claim prescribes one year from the death of the deceased only.

This means surviving family members generally have at least one year from the date of death to file suit, but may have up to two years from the date of injury if the victim survived for some time after being hurt. That extended alternative does not apply to wrongful death claims based on medical malpractice, which must be filed within one year of death regardless of when the underlying injury occurred.

Contracts: Ten Years

Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 3499, personal actions (including breach of contract claims) are subject to a liberative prescription of ten years, unless another statute provides a different period. This is a residual catch-all: it applies only when a more specific, shorter prescriptive period does not already cover the claim. For most consumer debt, that more specific period is the three-year track below.

Three-Year Prescriptive Period Claims

Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 3494, several types of claims carry a three-year prescriptive period:

• Recovery of compensation for services rendered, including salaries, wages, commissions, and professional fees
• Arrearages of rent and annuities
• Money lent
• An open account, which covers most credit-card and revolving-account debt
• Recovery of underpayments or overpayments of royalties from mineral production

Because credit-card balances and most personal loans are collected as an "open account" or "money lent," they typically fall under this three-year period, not the ten-year residual rule in Article 3499. Louisiana courts have not settled every characterization dispute over whether a specific credit-card agreement counts as an open account rather than a personal action, so confirm the applicable period for an unusual debt with an attorney.

Money Judgments: Ten Years

Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 3501, a money judgment rendered by a Louisiana trial court prescribes ten years from the date it was signed if no appeal is taken. Judgments can be revived before they prescribe.

Medical Malpractice: One Year (Three-Year Peremptive Period)

Under Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:5628, medical malpractice claims must be filed within one year from the date of the alleged act, omission, or neglect, or within one year from the date the alleged act was discovered or should have been discovered. However, in all cases, the claim must be filed within three years from the date of the alleged act. This three-year period is peremptive, meaning it cannot be extended or interrupted.

Legal Malpractice: One Year (Three-Year Peremptive Period)

Under Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:5605, claims against attorneys must be filed within one year from the date of the alleged act, omission, or neglect, or within one year from discovery. As with medical malpractice, a three-year peremptive period applies from the date of the alleged act, except in cases of fraud.

Workers' Compensation: One Year

Under Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1209, workers' compensation claims must be filed within one year after the accident or death. When payments have been made, the limitation does not take effect until one year from the last payment. If an injury develops after the accident, the claim must be filed within one year of when the injury develops, but no later than three years from the date of the accident.

Summary of Louisiana Civil Prescriptive Periods

How Prescription Is Interrupted or Suspended in Louisiana

Louisiana law provides several ways that prescription can be interrupted (reset) or suspended (paused).

Interruption of Prescription

Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 3462, prescription is interrupted when the plaintiff files a lawsuit in a court of competent jurisdiction and proper venue. If the suit is filed in an incompetent court or improper venue, prescription is interrupted only as to a defendant who was served with process within the prescriptive period.

Prescription can also be interrupted by the defendant acknowledging the debt or obligation, or by the filing of a bankruptcy petition.

Suspension of Prescription

Prescription does not run against certain individuals, including:

• Minors (in some circumstances)
• Interdicted persons (those under legal guardianship)
• Persons in active military service under certain conditions

When prescription is interrupted, it starts over from zero. When prescription is suspended, it pauses and resumes where it left off once the condition causing the suspension ends.

Louisiana Criminal Statute of Limitations

Louisiana's criminal statute of limitations sets time limits for when prosecutors must bring criminal charges. These deadlines are found in the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure, Articles 571 through 576.

Crimes With No Time Limit

Under Article 571, there is no time limitation on prosecution for:

• Any crime punishable by death or life imprisonment (including first-degree murder and second-degree murder)
• Forcible rape (first-degree rape)
• Second-degree rape
• Molestation of a juvenile or a person with a physical or mental disability

Prosecutors can bring charges for these offenses at any time, regardless of how many years have passed.

Sex Offenses: 30 Years

Under Article 571.1, sex offenses committed against a victim under 18 years of age carry a 30-year limitation period, which begins to run when the victim turns 18. This includes attempted first-degree rape, attempted second-degree rape, sexual battery, and various other sex crimes defined in R.S. 15:541, but only when the victim was a minor. Article 571.1 does not extend the limitation period for sex offenses against adult victims.

Felony and Misdemeanor Time Limits

Under Article 572, the following time limits apply to noncapital offenses:

DNA Exception

Under Article 572(B), prosecution for any sex offense may be started beyond the normal time limits if the offender's identity is established through DNA evidence after the limitation period has expired. In that case, prosecution must begin within three years of when DNA testing identified the suspect.

Tolling of Criminal Limitation Periods

Under Article 575, the limitation period is suspended (tolled) when the defendant:

• Flees from Louisiana to avoid detection, apprehension, or prosecution
• Is absent from their usual place of residence to avoid detection
• Lacks the mental capacity to proceed at trial

The clock stops running during these periods and resumes once the condition ends.

Summary of Louisiana Criminal Statutes of Limitations

The 2024 Changes: What Act 423 Means for You

The passage of Act 423 (House Bill 315) during the 2024 Regular Session marked the most significant change to Louisiana's civil prescriptive periods in nearly 200 years. Here is what you need to know.

What changed: The prescriptive period for delictual (tort) actions increased from one year to two years. Louisiana had maintained the one-year period since its Civil Code of 1825.

What was repealed: Civil Code Articles 3492 and 3493, which had established the one-year prescriptive periods for delictual actions and actions for damage caused by offenses and quasi-offenses.

What was enacted: Civil Code Articles 3493.11 (two-year prescription for delictual actions) and 3493.12 (two-year prescription for damage to immovable property with a discovery rule).

Prospective application only: The two-year period applies only to injuries or damage that occurred on or after July 1, 2024. Claims arising from events before that date remain subject to the previous one-year prescriptive period.

Related changes: The wrongful death prescriptive period under Civil Code Article 2315.2 was also updated to provide one year from death or two years from injury, whichever is longer, except for medical malpractice wrongful death claims, which remain capped at one year from death.

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