By Maria Sterling
If you’ve been injured in Florida, the clock is running. The deadline to file your lawsuit — the “statute of limitations” — isn’t a soft suggestion. Miss it and you lose the right to recover, period. Here’s the plain-English version of how it actually works.
Two years for most personal injury
Effective March 2023, Florida cut the general negligence statute of limitations from four years to two years. That covers most car crashes, slip-and-falls, and ordinary negligence cases. Two years from the date of the accident is the outer deadline to file suit. Don’t wait until month 23.
Two years for medical malpractice
Med-mal has its own two-year clock that generally runs from when you knew (or should have known) about the injury — not from the date of the negligent treatment. There’s also a four-year “statute of repose” that operates as a hard outer limit regardless of when the injury was discovered. Add to that Florida’s pre-suit screening period and the timing window can get tight fast.
Two years for wrongful death
Florida’s Wrongful Death Act gives the personal representative of the estate two years from the date of death to file. Probate administration, identifying the proper survivors, and identifying every potential defendant all take time. Start the conversation early.
Shorter deadlines for government defendants
If the at-fault party is a Florida government entity (a city bus, a county hospital, a school district), you have to serve a sworn notice of claim within three years — but in many cases there are pre-suit waiting periods that reduce the practical filing window further. Federal Tort Claims Act matters have a separate two-year notice requirement.
Why “the clock” matters even before the deadline
Even when you have time on paper, evidence runs out. Surveillance footage at a Florida grocery store gets overwritten in 30 days. Trucking ELD data rolls off in seven days. Witnesses move, memories fade, and at-fault parties spoliate. The strongest cases are built in the first 90 days — not the last 90.
What to do this week
If you’ve been hurt and you haven’t talked to a lawyer yet, get a free case review today. We’ll tell you straight whether you have a case, what the deadlines actually look like for your facts, and what to preserve in the meantime. Call (305) 555-0142 or send a note. We answer the phone ourselves.
