Tools · Debt
California Debt Statute of Limitations Calculator (2026)
Enter your last payment or activity date to see when the California limitations period would run out for your debt type — credit-card debt runs 4 years, a written contract 4 years. Every result flags revival.
California debt statute-of-limitations calculator
These are the California figures applied to the date you entered — a plain summary of the period, not a determination that any debt is or is not time-barred.
Under §360, a new acknowledgment or promise must be in writing and signed to extend a debt. A voluntary partial payment can act as a new promise (chiefly in the promissory-note context) to extend a debt that is not yet barred — but §360 is explicit that "no such payment of itself shall revive a cause of action once barred," so a payment made after the deadline does not resurrect a time-barred California debt.
The date above assumes no new activity. A statute of limitations does not erase the debt or remove it from your credit report — it is a defense you must raise if you are sued after the period runs. In many states a partial payment or a signed written acknowledgment can restart the clock entirely, so be careful before paying or signing anything on an old account. Revival rules are complex and this is informational only, not legal advice.
- Debt type
- Credit-card debt
- SOL period
- 4 years
- Last payment / activity
- Not entered
- Period runs out
- —
- Revival
- Only a signed writing revives it
Plain-language summary, not legal advice.
Informational only, not legal advice. The statute of limitations is complex, classification-dependent, and revival can reset it — this tool cannot decide your case. See the full breakdown and citations on the California debt statute-of-limitations reference, cited to Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §337; §339; §360.
How the California debt clock works
California keeps it simple on the number and strict on revival. Whether a card debt is called a written contract, a book account, or an account stated, it lands at 4 years under §337, so there is no long written tier to worry about. The clock runs from your last activity — the later of your last charge or payment. And California draws a sharp line on revival: a new promise must be written and signed, and while a payment can extend a debt that has not yet expired, §360 says plainly that no payment revives a cause of action once it is already barred.
This tool applies the California periods to the date you enter and assumes no new activity. It is informational only and not legal advice — revival can reset the clock and classification can change the period. For the full four-type breakdown, revival rule, and citations, see the California debt statute-of-limitations reference.
Debt statute-of-limitations tools for other states
Same tool, each with its own periods and revival rule.