When does the four-year federal catchall limitation period apply?

Section 1658(a) supplies four years after accrual for a covered action arising under a post-December 1, 1990 enactment, except where another law provides otherwise. A claim made possible by a later amendment can qualify. The calculator counts this established four-year component; it does not decide the statutory basis or accrual.

Responsible actor. The plaintiff commencing the covered federal civil action.

Identify the enactment or amendment that makes this cause of action possible.

Document why a specific federal limitation period does not displace the catchall.

Determine accrual under the law governing this claim, independently of the calculator.

Use after establishing that this particular claim falls within section 1658(a), no different statutory period controls, and federal civil court counting applies.

1. Independently established accrual of this cause of action
2. For the established federal civil court component, FRCP 6(a)(1) excludes the trigger day and includes intermediate weekends and holidays. A period in months or years uses its corresponding calendar date, rather than a fixed number of days. The final weekend or legal holiday moves forward under Rule 6(a). A target month or year without the corresponding day requires separate endpoint review; this calculator refuses that input.
3. Commence the covered federal civil action by filing the complaint. Preserve the filed complaint and court receipt; service remains a separate requirement under the applicable rules.

Retained 2024 annual U.S. Code, laws in effect January 6, 2025. The subsequent-law review covers the retained 119th Congress corpus through Public Law 119-118, approved September 30, 2026. Its scoped candidate findings do not establish every claim-specific exception or later judicial application. This page requires the stated covered cause and legally established event. Court computation uses the retained December 1, 2025 FRCP compilation; identified agency regulations use their separately stated 2026 API editions.

The calendar covers established events and results from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2033. OPM observations for 2025–2030 are independently checked. Dates in 2031–2033 are standing-rule projections under 5 U.S.C. § 6103, not published OPM schedules. Additional presidential, congressional or district-state holidays, amendments and actual clerk inaccessibility require separate review. Inauguration Day is not treated as a nationwide district-court holiday. The coverage boundary does not establish statutory applicability or lateness.

Fictitious example

Fictitious independently established facts. Use after establishing that this particular claim falls within section 1658(a), no different statutory period controls, and federal civil court counting applies.

Fictitious independently established events and classifications. The displayed result is this one untolled component. Securities earlier-of comparisons and alternative wage classifications are separately identified. These examples do not determine accrual, discovery, statutory liability, the actual forum, an exception, a completed filing or an unrecorded closure. Use after establishing that this particular claim falls within section 1658(a), no different statutory period controls, and federal civil court counting applies.

Older enactment

A statute predating December 1, 1990 does not qualify merely because the alleged conduct is recent. A post-1990 amendment must make the particular claim possible.

Specific period

The opening statutory exception requires checking the actual cause of action before using four years.

Calendar and endpoint coverage

The calendar covers established events and results from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2033. OPM observations for 2025–2030 are independently checked. Dates in 2031–2033 are standing-rule projections under 5 U.S.C. § 6103, not published OPM schedules. Additional presidential, congressional or district-state holidays, amendments and actual clerk inaccessibility require separate review. Inauguration Day is not treated as a nationwide district-court holiday. The coverage boundary does not establish statutory applicability or lateness.

• Use after establishing that this particular claim falls within section 1658(a), no different statutory period controls, and federal civil court counting applies.
• The calculation supplies the stated component on established facts. Unmodeled tolling, competing components and claim-specific exceptions require separate controlling review.

• Identify the enactment or amendment that makes this cause of action possible.
• Document why a specific federal limitation period does not displace the catchall.
• Determine accrual under the law governing this claim, independently of the calculator.
• A statute predating December 1, 1990 does not qualify merely because the alleged conduct is recent. A post-1990 amendment must make the particular claim possible.
• The opening statutory exception requires checking the actual cause of action before using four years.
• For this federal civil court component, FRCP 3 uses filing the complaint to commence the action, subject to a specific statutory requirement such as claimant written consent. Under FRCP 6(a)(4), the last day ordinarily ends at midnight in the court’s time zone for electronic filing, or at scheduled clerk closing for other filing. A different statute, local rule or court order can set a different time. Establish the actual court and completed filing; an unsuccessful attempt is not automatically a completed filing. Rule 6(a)(3) concerns actual clerk inaccessibility. Rule 6(d) is not an automatic addition to statutory accrual, discovery, denial-mailing or notice-receipt components.