United States · Delaware limitation periods

What is Delaware’s ordinary three-year civil limitation period?

Section 8106(a) gives three years from accrual for its listed civil claims. Specific statutory periods, contract terms and tolling can change the inquiry.

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Period: 3-year ordinary section 8106(a) branch
Trigger: Independently established accrual of a claim covered by section 8106(a)
Rule: 10 Del. C. § 8106

10 Del. C. § 8106

Current official Delaware Code text and separately identified 2026 court rules reviewed. Establish historical applicability independently.

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Independently established accrual of a claim covered by section 8106(a)

Entry rules and timing exceptions

3 years from Accrual of the cause of action

10 Del. C. Sec. 8106(a)Binding

Rule notes

THE CORE DELAWARE COMMERCIAL LIMITATION PERIOD. It governs breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and most DGCL-based claims, and it applies in the Court of Chancery by analogy through the doctrine of laches. ACCRUAL: Delaware follows an occurrence rule - the period runs from the date of the wrongful act, even where the plaintiff is unaware of it. DISCOVERY RULE STATED SEPARATELY: Delaware recognizes a narrow judge-made 'inherently unknowable injury' or 'blameless ignorance' tolling doctrine, plus fraudulent concealment and equitable tolling, none of which appear in the statutory text; these are case-law doctrines with no pinpoint statutory citation and must be researched separately rather than encoded. SEALED INSTRUMENTS: the section expressly excludes a debt evidenced by a record or by an instrument under seal, which under Delaware law carries a 20-year period - a routine reason parties execute Delaware contracts under seal. See separately 10 Del. C. Sec. 8106(c) for the contractual long-stop.

Calculation software, not legal advice. Check the current rule, orders and facts.

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Which event controls this 10 Del. C. § 8106 inquiry?

The text lists trespass, chattel recovery or detention, specified unsealed debts, mutual contractual or fiduciary accounts, promises, statutory claims and indirect injuries.

The paragraph expressly preserves sections 8108–8110, 8119 and 8127. A claim described as a contract does not settle the applicable period.

Property-insurance contracts have subsection (b). Qualifying written contracts have subsection (c). Chancery laches is a separate equitable inquiry, not this Superior Court filing calculation.

10 Del. C. § 8106

How is this disclosed component counted?

Use a covered civil damages claim in Superior Court with independently established accrual and no applicable shorter agreement or toll. Use an event after June 30, 2020 with no applicable toll or alternative period.
Exclude the established event day under Superior Court Civil Rule 6(a). Count the stated calendar years or months under 1 Del. C. § 302(13), (24). Intermediate weekends and holidays remain inside these long periods. Apply the eligible final-day rule after the calendar interval.
Check the actual final holiday, court closure and county-specific availability.
Preserve the actual initiating complaint, praecipe, applicable fees and completed transmission. Complete required service separately.

For the disclosed Superior Court branch, Rule 6(a) excludes the event day and rolls a final Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday or Prothonotary closure to the next open day. Common Pleas Rule 6(a) supplies its own equivalent final-day treatment for the disclosed forcible-entry branch. Section 501 defines statutory holidays and weekend observance. Sunday July 4, 2027 is observed on Monday July 5. Sussex County Return Day is a separate half-day holiday in general-election years; the bundled calendar does not determine that county’s filing availability. Check actual closures and declared holidays separately.

These calculators accept selected events after June 30, 2020. They do not model historical emergency extensions. Administrative Order 7 paragraph (7) extended the specified deadlines otherwise expiring March 23 through June 30, 2020 through July 1, 2020. It expressly did not extend or toll deadlines outside that expiration window. This scope refusal does not establish that an actual claim is barred. Wage claims also require accrual on or after April 26, 2023.

Superior Court Civil Rules 3(a), 6(a), 79.1

What does an independently derived example show?

Fictitious example

Use a covered civil damages claim in Superior Court with independently established accrual and no applicable shorter agreement or toll. Use an event after June 30, 2020 with no applicable toll or alternative period. Fictitious established facts. Use a covered civil damages claim in Superior Court with independently established accrual and no applicable shorter agreement or toll. Use an event after June 30, 2020 with no applicable toll or alternative period. The selected event is August 2, 2024. No additional actual closure, toll, agreement or different statutory branch applies.

Example counting steps
Step	What is counted	Date
Established event	Independently established accrual of a claim covered by section 8106(a)	August 2, 2024
Disclosed statutory component	3-year ordinary section 8106(a) branch	August 2, 2027

Example resultAugust 2, 2027

Fictitious established facts. This result applies only to the disclosed component. It does not decide accrual, classification, tolling, contractual terms, historical applicability or whether the required act occurred.

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Which qualifications change this inquiry?

Express cross-references: Compare running accounts, specified bills or notes, foreign judgments, personal injury and construction before adopting the default.
Insurance denial: Subsection (b) restricts a covered insurance contract from requiring suit in less than one year after denial. Denial is distinct from ordinary accrual.
Borrowing: Section 8121 ordinarily uses the shorter Delaware or accrual-place period, with its stated Delaware-resident exception.
Historical statutory and emergency scope: These calculators accept selected events after June 30, 2020. They do not model historical emergency extensions. Administrative Order 7 paragraph (7) extended the specified deadlines otherwise expiring March 23 through June 30, 2020 through July 1, 2020. It expressly did not extend or toll deadlines outside that expiration window. This scope refusal does not establish that an actual claim is barred. Wage claims also require accrual on or after April 26, 2023.

10 Del. C. § 8106

Establish the applicable edition and actual legal facts independently.
The disclosed calculation does not resolve a different statutory branch, a foreign shorter period or an unmodeled toll.

Which facts and completed acts should be preserved?

Use a covered civil damages claim in Superior Court with independently established accrual and no applicable shorter agreement or toll. Use an event after June 30, 2020 with no applicable toll or alternative period.
The text lists trespass, chattel recovery or detention, specified unsealed debts, mutual contractual or fiduciary accounts, promises, statutory claims and indirect injuries.
The paragraph expressly preserves sections 8108–8110, 8119 and 8127. A claim described as a contract does not settle the applicable period.
Property-insurance contracts have subsection (b). Qualifying written contracts have subsection (c). Chancery laches is a separate equitable inquiry, not this Superior Court filing calculation.
Compare running accounts, specified bills or notes, foreign judgments, personal injury and construction before adopting the default.
Subsection (b) restricts a covered insurance contract from requiring suit in less than one year after denial. Denial is distinct from ordinary accrual.
Section 8121 ordinarily uses the shorter Delaware or accrual-place period, with its stated Delaware-resident exception.
Preserve the actual initiating complaint, praecipe, applicable fees and completed transmission. Complete required service separately. Superior Court Rule 3(a) requires the initiating complaint and praecipe, with applicable filing requirements. For covered electronic filing, Administrative Directive 2007-6 procedure 6(a) uses successful transmission recorded by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Preserve transmission and acceptance, including any rejection and timely correction. Filing does not itself complete service of original process. Chancery Rule 5(d) separately uses midnight for an original complaint or specified expedited papers and 5:00 p.m. for other ordinary papers. Do not import that different filing boundary into Superior Court.

Questions about 10 Del. C. § 8106