Tools · Debt
Louisiana Debt Statute of Limitations Calculator (2026)
Enter your last payment or activity date to see when the Louisiana limitations period would run out for your debt type — credit-card debt runs 3 years, a written contract 10 years (art. 3499). Every result flags revival.
Louisiana debt statute-of-limitations calculator
These are the Louisiana 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 (too old to sue over).
Louisiana calls this "interruption," not revival. Under La. Civ. Code art. 3464, acknowledging the debt interrupts prescription, and a partial payment can count as an acknowledgment. When prescription is interrupted, the time already run is wiped out and the full period starts over (art. 3466). So a small payment or a written admission on an old card balance can restart the entire 3-year clock. Be careful before paying or signing anything on an old 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
- Time limit to sue (SOL period)
- 3 years
- Last payment / activity
- Not entered
- Period runs out
- —
- Revival
- A payment can restart the clock
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 Louisiana debt statute-of-limitations reference, cited to La. Civ. Code arts. 3494, 3495, 3498, 3499, 3464.
How the Louisiana debt clock works
Louisiana does not use the phrase "statute of limitations." It uses "liberative prescription," which is the civil-law term for the deadline after which a creditor can no longer force you to pay through the courts. The rule that trips people up is that most credit-card and consumer debt is treated as an open account under La. Civ. Code art. 3494, which prescribes in just 3 years, one of the shorter periods anywhere. That is far shorter than the 10-year default for a written contract (art. 3499), so the label a court puts on your debt matters a lot. Promissory notes and other instruments sit in the middle at 5 years (art. 3498). And because Louisiana lets a single acknowledgment or partial payment "interrupt" prescription and restart the whole clock (art. 3464), an old, nearly time-barred balance can come back to life fast.
This tool applies the Louisiana 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 Louisiana debt statute-of-limitations reference.
Debt statute-of-limitations tools for other states
Same tool, each with its own periods and revival rule.