United States · New York limitation periods

What is the ordinary New York wrongful-death filing period?

EPTL 5-4.1(1) ordinarily requires wrongful-death commencement within two years after death by the duly appointed personal representative. Statutory exceptions remain.

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Period: 2-year ordinary branch
Trigger: The decedent’s established date of death
Rule: EPTL 5-4.1(1)–(2)

EPTL 5-4.1(1)–(2)

Current official statutory text reviewed. A displayed Senate revision date is not an amendment effective date.

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The decedent’s established date of death

Entry rules and timing exceptions

2 years from The decedent's death

EPTL 5-4.1(1)Binding

Rule notes

Runs from DEATH, not from the injury. A condition precedent is that the decedent would have had a timely claim at the date of death. Against a municipality, GML 50-i(1) substitutes two years from the death together with the ninety-day notice of claim.

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

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Which event controls this EPTL 5-4.1(1)–(2) inquiry?

The personal representative must be appointed in New York or another jurisdiction. The decedent must be survived by distributees.

The claim is against a person who would have been liable for the wrongful conduct if death had not ensued. The calculator does not establish that condition.

Appointment date does not replace death in this ordinary two-year computation. A distributee may need the statutory administrator route if the stated executor refuses to act.

EPTL 5-4.1(1)–(2)

How is this selected component counted?

Use the ordinary wrongful-death branch with an established death date and the duly appointed personal representative, excluding the special criminal-action and September 11 branches. This calculator accepts events after November 3, 2020 and does not apply any toll.
Count the selected calendar-month or calendar-year interval from the independently established event. General Construction Law 20 excludes the event day, sections 30 and 58 govern months and years, and section 25-a permits the next succeeding business day when an authorized statutory act ends on Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday.
Check the final statutory holiday and weekend independently.
Preserve the actual commencement record and complete required service. Filing and service are separate acts.

For an authorized statutory act, General Construction Law 25-a permits the next succeeding business day if the final day is Saturday, Sunday or a statutory public holiday. Section 24 defines those holidays. Sunday Independence Day in 2027 is observed on Monday July 5. Confirm other actual closures separately.

The calculators accept selected events after November 3, 2020. They do not apply the 2020 executive-order toll. Brash distinguishes a toll from a suspension. Historical events require separate review and receive no calculated or paid date here. Do not add 228 days to every historical event without testing its actual applicability.

General Construction Law 20

What does an independently derived example show?

Fictitious example

Use the ordinary wrongful-death branch with an established death date and the duly appointed personal representative, excluding the special criminal-action and September 11 branches. This calculator accepts events after November 3, 2020 and does not apply any toll. Fictitious established facts. Use the ordinary wrongful-death branch with an established death date and the duly appointed personal representative, excluding the special criminal-action and September 11 branches. This calculator accepts events after November 3, 2020 and does not apply any toll. The selected event is August 2, 2025. No applicable toll, shorter agreement, alternative branch or additional closure is assumed.

Example counting steps
Step	What is counted	Date
Established statutory event	The decedent’s established date of death	August 2, 2025
Selected statutory component	2-year ordinary branch	August 2, 2027

Example resultAugust 2, 2027

Fictitious established facts. This example applies only to the stated component. The calculator does not determine accrual, reasonable discovery, qualifying treatment, a toll or whether a claim is timely.

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Which qualifications change this inquiry?

Criminal-action protection: Subsection (2) provides at least one year after qualifying criminal termination against the same defendant.
Special September 11 branch: Subsection (1) separately states two years and six months for its covered September 11, 2001 deaths, with the stated participant exclusion.
Appointment and prerequisites: Preserve appointment and independently check any public-defendant notice prerequisites and other governing provisions.
Historical executive-order toll: The calculators accept selected events after November 3, 2020. They do not apply the 2020 executive-order toll. Brash distinguishes a toll from a suspension. Historical events require separate review and receive no calculated or paid date here. Do not add 228 days to every historical event without testing its actual applicability.

EPTL 5-4.1(1)–(2)

Preserve the applicable edition and establish the actual statutory facts independently.
This calculation supplies the disclosed component and does not select every alternative period or apply an unmodeled toll.

Which facts and completed acts should be preserved?

Use the ordinary wrongful-death branch with an established death date and the duly appointed personal representative, excluding the special criminal-action and September 11 branches. This calculator accepts events after November 3, 2020 and does not apply any toll.
The personal representative must be appointed in New York or another jurisdiction. The decedent must be survived by distributees.
The claim is against a person who would have been liable for the wrongful conduct if death had not ensued. The calculator does not establish that condition.
Appointment date does not replace death in this ordinary two-year computation. A distributee may need the statutory administrator route if the stated executor refuses to act.
Subsection (2) provides at least one year after qualifying criminal termination against the same defendant.
Subsection (1) separately states two years and six months for its covered September 11, 2001 deaths, with the stated participant exclusion.
Preserve appointment and independently check any public-defendant notice prerequisites and other governing provisions.
Preserve the actual commencement record and complete required service. Filing and service are separate acts. CPLR 304 governs commencement by the required initiating filing. In the applicable NYSCEF program, 22 NYCRR 202.5-b(d)(3)(i) uses recorded transmission and the required fee information or permitted later actual payment. Transmission is permitted any day or night. Preserve the actual recorded filing and fee event. Check county, action eligibility and any paper filing hours. Electronic filing of initiating papers does not itself serve the defendant under paragraph (f)(1).

Questions about EPTL 5-4.1(1)–(2)