Statutes of limitations are deadlines. They tell you how many years a victim has to bring a civil lawsuit, or how long the state has to file criminal charges. They are unforgiving: file one day late and the case is over, no matter how strong the underlying merits. This guide collects the Missouri deadlines that come up most often, with the statute citations, plus the tolling rules that pause the clock.

None of this is a substitute for advice on your particular case — deadlines interact with each other, with notice requirements against government defendants, and with discovery rules in ways that are easy to miss. But it is a useful map.

The five-year general civil rule

The default statute of limitations for most Missouri civil claims — personal injury, property damage, breach of contract not in writing, fraud, conversion — is five years from the date the cause of action accrued. The governing statute is RSMo §516.120, which is the workhorse of Missouri civil practice.

RSMo §516.120: Within five years — (1) all actions upon contracts, obligations or liabilities, express or implied, except those mentioned in section 516.110, and except upon judgments or decrees of a court of record... (4) an action for taking, detaining or injuring any goods or chattels, including actions for the recovery of specific personal property, or for any other injury to the person or rights of another, not arising on contract and not herein otherwise enumerated.

Five years is generous compared to most states. The Missouri rule means a car accident victim has until five years from the wreck to file suit; a fraud victim has five years from discovery of the fraud; a breach-of-contract plaintiff has five years from the breach.

Wrongful death — three years

Wrongful death is the major exception. Under RSMo §537.100, a wrongful death action must be brought within three years of the death — not the underlying accident or injury. The clock starts on the date of death. Even if the original injury falls within the five-year personal injury window, the wrongful death claim derived from that injury has its own shorter clock once the victim dies.

For a survivor of a person killed in a car accident, this means: filing must be within three years of the death. There is no extension for grief, for ongoing settlement discussions with insurers, or for delays in obtaining a medical examiner's report.

Defamation — two years

Libel and slander claims have one of Missouri's shortest civil deadlines. RSMo §516.140 sets a two-year window for defamation, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, and a handful of related personal-rights torts. The clock typically starts on the date of publication of the defamatory statement.

This same two-year limit applies to actions against employers for unpaid wages and to certain claims against public officials — categories that can surprise plaintiffs who assumed they had years to act.

Written contracts — ten years

Written contracts get a longer window. RSMo §516.110 provides ten years for an action upon any writing, whether sealed or unsealed, for the payment of money or property. A signed promissory note, a written loan agreement, or a written contract dispute typically falls under the ten-year rule. Oral contracts revert to the five-year general rule.

Real estate — ten years (mostly)

Most actions to recover real property or to enforce rights connected to land use a ten-year statute. Adverse possession in Missouri requires ten years of continuous, hostile, exclusive, open, and notorious possession.

Medical malpractice — two years, with limits

Medical negligence claims have a two-year limit under RSMo §516.105, with an outer cap of ten years (or two years from discovery, whichever comes first, but never more than ten years from the act). For minors, the act provides limited tolling but does not extend indefinitely. Medical malpractice in Missouri also has surviving non-economic damage caps that ordinary personal injury claims do not.

Criminal statutes of limitations

Missouri's criminal limitations are set in RSMo §556.036 and vary by offense classification. Generally:

  • Class A felonies, murder, forcible rape, attempts of either: No statute of limitations. The state can charge at any time.
  • Other felonies: Three years from commission of the offense.
  • Misdemeanors: One year.
  • Infractions: Six months.
  • Sex offenses involving a minor (most categories): Twenty years from the victim's eighteenth birthday, or no limit for the most serious offenses.

The clock generally starts on the date of the offense. For continuing offenses (like an ongoing fraud scheme), the clock starts when the conduct ends. For offenses involving a fraudulent breach of fiduciary duty, the clock can start when the violation is discovered.

Tolling — what stops the clock

Several conditions pause the running of the limitations clock under RSMo §516.170 and related provisions.

Minors. If the plaintiff was a minor when the cause of action accrued, the clock is generally tolled until the eighteenth birthday. A child injured at age 10 in a car accident still has until age 23 to file (five years from her eighteenth birthday).

Mental incapacity. Persons of unsound mind have the clock tolled until they regain capacity.

Defendant's absence from the state. Time during which the defendant is absent from Missouri does not count toward the period.

Fraudulent concealment. If the defendant fraudulently concealed the facts that would give rise to the claim, the clock is delayed until the plaintiff reasonably could have discovered the wrong.

Tolling is fact-specific. Defense lawyers contest it aggressively because the alternative is losing the case. Document the basis for tolling carefully and raise it in your initial pleading.

Special notice requirements against government defendants

Suing a Missouri municipality, county, or the state itself adds a notice-of-claim requirement that often runs much shorter than the underlying limitations period. Most municipal claims require written notice within 90 days of the injury. The Missouri Tort Victims' Compensation Fund and the Missouri Sovereign Immunity statute (RSMo §537.600) impose additional procedural hurdles. If your injury involves a public entity — a city sidewalk, a county vehicle, a public school, the state highway department — treat the deadlines as 90 days, not five years, and call counsel immediately.

Federal claims have their own clocks

Federal civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. §1983 borrow the personal-injury limitations of the state where the claim arose. In Missouri, that is the five-year rule. Federal employment discrimination claims have much shorter deadlines — typically 180 or 300 days for an EEOC charge depending on whether a state agency exists, and 90 days from the right-to-sue letter.

Why you should never assume you have time

Plaintiffs lose meritorious cases to limitations defenses every year. The danger is not running close to the deadline; it is that early steps in litigation — preserving evidence, locating witnesses, sending litigation-hold letters — require time. Investigation of a five-year-old car accident is a different exercise than investigation of a six-month-old one. Witnesses move. Surveillance video disappears. Memories fade. Statutes of limitations set the outer wall of when you can file. The practical wall — when a case is still winnable — usually closes long before then.

If you are unsure

For a free assessment of the deadlines that apply to your situation, contact the firm. Statute-of-limitations questions are exactly the kind of thing a 20-minute call can resolve. We also maintain a free Missouri Statute of Limitations Checker that walks you through the most common claim categories and produces a deadline estimate. For more on the practice areas we handle in Missouri, see our practice areas page.

This article is general legal information for Missouri residents. It is not legal advice. Missouri law changes regularly — statutes are amended, case law evolves, and the application of any rule depends on the specific facts of each case. Do not act, or refrain from acting, based on this article without consulting a qualified Missouri attorney about your particular situation. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice on your specific case, contact David Naumann & Associates at (314) 831-9350. The initial consultation is free. See the full Legal Disclaimer for complete terms.