United States · Texas statutory limitations
When must an ordinary Texas personal-injury or listed property-tort suit be brought?
Section 16.003(a) ordinarily requires its listed personal-injury and property-related suits within two years after accrual. It expressly excepts sections 16.010, 16.0031 and 16.0045. Use this calculator only after establishing the ordinary branch and accrual. A report, diagnosis or offense claim may require another assessment.
- Period
- 2 calendar years after the independently established statutory event
- Trigger
- The independently established accrual of the ordinary section 16.003(a) cause of action
- Rule
- Texas CPRC 16.003(a)
Current official consolidated Chapter 16 text retrieved October 5, 2026
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Which event starts this limitation?
Identify the exact claim listed in section 16.003(a). Similar harm does not establish the governing limitation.
Exclude trade-secret misappropriation under section 16.010, asbestos or silica accrual under section 16.0031, and the qualifying offenses under section 16.0045.
Establish accrual independently. Review disability, death and any conditional refiling before counting.
Texas CPRC 16.003(a)How is the ordinary year period counted?
- Identify the exact claim listed in section 16.003(a). Similar harm does not establish the governing limitation.
- Establish that the scoped statutory branch governs and that no suspension or different limitation applies.
- Add 2 calendar years to the verified event.
- Check the final day, actual county opening and applicable filing boundary.
A statutory year is twelve consecutive months under Government Code 311.005(12). Section 311.014(c) uses the corresponding numerical day in the concluding month, or that month’s last day if no corresponding day exists. Count calendar years, not 365 days per year. Establish the statutory event before using its anniversary.
CPRC 16.072 extends its statutory suit-filing period when the final day is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday to the next day county offices are open for business. Rule 4 and Government Code 311.014 also address final weekends and legal holidays. The calculator applies the encoded Texas calendar for 2026 through 2028. Establish the actual county calendar, governing holiday treatment and any additional closure separately. A state employee’s optional day off does not itself establish a court closure.
Texas Government Code 311.014What does an independently checked example show?
Fictitious example
Fictitious facts. The independently established accrual of the ordinary section 16.003(a) cause of action is independently established as July 6, 2025. This ordinary branch governs. No suspension, extension, competing limitation or protected governmental right applies.
| Step | What is counted | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Event | The independently established accrual of the ordinary section 16.003(a) cause of action | July 6, 2025 |
| Anniversary | 2 calendar years | July 6, 2027 |
Fictitious dates. The event and statutory branch are independently established. No suspension, competing limitation or additional closure applies. For the separate weekend fixture, county offices are expressly assumed open July 12, 2027. This is not a verified calendar for every county.
Try these dates in the calculatorWhich facts change the ordinary calculation?
- Trade secrets
- Section 16.010 separately uses three years after actual or reasonably diligent discovery and treats continuing misappropriation as one cause of action.
- Asbestos or silica injury
- Section 16.0031 identifies the earlier of the exposed person’s death and service of the specified compliant report. This calculator does not establish report compliance or compare those events.
- Listed offenses
- Section 16.0045 has its own thirty-year and five-year offense branches, death event and unknown-defendant tolling condition. Do not substitute this ordinary two-year preset.
- Disability when the cause accrues
- Section 16.001 excludes the time of a qualifying minority or unsound-mind disability existing at accrual. A later disability does not suspend the clock, and disabilities cannot be tacked. This calculator assumes no qualifying disability and does not classify the facts.
- Death during an existing clock
- Section 16.062 can suspend an existing limitation for up to twelve months, with an earlier restart when an executor or administrator qualifies. A death date alone does not supply the claim’s remaining time.
- Absence from Texas
- Section 16.063 states a suspension during the absence of the person against whom the cause may be maintained. This calculator assumes no applicable suspension. The statutory text alone does not settle judicial restrictions or constitutional application to a particular defendant.
- Prior action dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
- Section 16.064 conditionally suspends limitations between filings when the same action is commenced in a proper court within sixty days after final disposition. Intentional disregard of jurisdiction is excluded. The calculator does not determine that suspension.
- Specified governmental rights
- Section 16.061 protects its listed state and political-subdivision rights against the provisions it names. Do not apply this ordinary claimant calculation to such a protected right.
- The calculator does not decide accrual, constructive discovery, claim classification or a disputed suspension.
- A request for more time is not a statutory extension. Rule 5 concerns its stated rule, notice or order periods; it does not establish general relief from a statute of limitations.
- Rule 21(f)(6) permits seeking appropriate relief after a technical failure. Its required reasonable extension concerns deadlines imposed by the rules. Do not assume it automatically revives this statutory limitation.
What should be checked before filing?
Common questions
This action and its statutory event
Is the accident date always the date I should enter?
The statute uses accrual. Establish that event independently for the actual ordinary claim; this calculator does not resolve disputed accrual.
Texas CPRC 16.003(a)Does a trade-secret claim use the same two years?
No. Section 16.010 separately uses its three-year discovery rule.
Texas CPRC 16.010(a)Does death automatically mean two years from the original injury?
Section 16.003(b) expressly identifies death as accrual for its injury-resulting-in-death action. Establish the actual claim.
Texas CPRC 16.003(b)Official sources and review
Provisions used (17)
| Provision | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Texas CPRC 16.003(a) | The covered action, actor, event and fixed ordinary period |
| Texas CPRC 16.010 | Trade secrets |
| Texas CPRC 16.0031 | Asbestos or silica injury |
| Texas CPRC 16.0045 | Listed offenses |
| Texas CPRC 16.001 | Disability when the cause accrues |
| Texas CPRC 16.062 | Death during an existing clock |
| Texas CPRC 16.063 | Absence from Texas |
| Texas CPRC 16.064 | Prior action dismissed for lack of jurisdiction |
| Texas CPRC 16.061 | Specified governmental rights |
| Texas Government Code 311.005(12) and 311.014 | Calendar units and statutory computation |
| Texas Government Code 311.005(12) | The statutory year is twelve consecutive months |
| Texas CPRC 16.072 | Statutory suit-filing period on a closed final day |
| Texas Government Code 662.003 and 662.021 | Distinguish the statutory holiday definitions from optional employee holidays |
| Texas Civil Rule 4 | Event exclusion, inclusion of the final day and legal holidays |
| Texas Civil Rule 5 | Scope of court enlargement, distinguished from statutory limitation relief |
| Texas Civil Rule 21(f)(5) and (6) | Electronic filing boundary and technical failure provisions |
| Texas Civil Rule 22 | Commencing district or county court suit by filing the petition |