Written Contract · Statute of Limitations

How Long You Have to Sue Over a Broken Contract, by State

The written-contract statute of limitations, how many years you have to sue after an agreement is broken, for each state. Plus when the clock starts, the shorter deadline for oral contracts, and the four-year UCC rule for a sale of goods. Each cited to the statute.

All 50 states published. 9 verified against the official statute; the rest cited to corroborating sources while the official portal is confirmed.Written and oral almost always differ, and a sale of goods runs on its own four-year UCC clock, so the deadline is rarely a single number.

Read this first: written and oral are different clocks

The statute of limitations is the legal deadline to file suit. Miss it and the court can throw the case out no matter how strong it is. For a broken written contract the period ranges widely: four years in California, Texas, and Pennsylvania, five years in Florida, six years in New York, and ten years in Illinois. The written figure is the headline, but it is rarely the whole story.

Two things move the real deadline. First, whether the contract is written. California cuts an oral contract to two years and Illinois to five, while Texas, New York, and Pennsylvania give oral the same period as written. Second, what was sold: a contract for the sale of goods runs on the UCC four-year rule in every state, which in New York and Illinois is shorter than the general contract clock. Every figure here links to the statute, and pages still pending verification say so.

Every state in one table

The years to sue on a written contract, the discovery rule, and the shorter oral-contract clock in each row.

Find your state

Type a state to jump straight to its full written contract deadline guide.

All states (50)

State	Deadline	Discovery rule	Oral contract	Statute
AlabamaCited	6 years	No	3 years	Ala. Code §6‑2‑34
AlaskaCited	3 years	Yes	3 years	Alaska Stat. §09.10.053
ArizonaCited	6 years	Yes	3 years	Ariz. Rev. Stat. §12‑548
ArkansasCited	5 years	No	3 years	Ark. Code §16‑56‑111
California	4 years	Yes	2 years	Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §337(a)
ColoradoCited	3 years	Yes	6 years	Colo. Rev. Stat. §13‑80‑101
ConnecticutCited	6 years	No	3 years	Conn. Gen. Stat. §52‑576
DelawareCited	3 years	No	3 years	10 Del. C. §8106
Florida	5 years	No	4 years	Fla. Stat. §95.11(2)(b)
Georgia	6 years	No	20 years	O.C.G.A. §9‑3‑24
HawaiiCited	6 years	No	6 years	Haw. Rev. Stat. §657‑1
IdahoCited	5 years	No	4 years	Idaho Code §5‑216
Illinois	10 years	Yes	5 years	735 ILCS 5/13‑206
IndianaCited	10 years	Yes	6 years	Indiana Code §34‑11‑2‑11
IowaCited	10 years	Yes	5 years	Iowa Code §614.1(5)
KansasCited	5 years	No	3 years	K.S.A. 60‑511
KentuckyCited	10 years	No	15 years	KRS 413.160
LouisianaCited	10 years	Yes	10 years	La. Civ. Code art. 3499
MaineCited	6 years	No	6 years	14 M.R.S. §752
MarylandCited	3 years	Yes	3 years	Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5‑101
MassachusettsCited	6 years	Yes	6 years	Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, §2
Michigan	6 years	No	6 years (same as written)	MCL 600.5807(9)
MinnesotaCited	6 years	Yes	6 years	Minn. Stat. §541.05
MississippiCited	3 years	Yes	3 years	Miss. Code Ann. §15‑1‑49
MissouriCited	10 years	Yes	5 years	Mo. Rev. Stat. §516.110
MontanaCited	8 years	Yes	5 years	Mont. Code Ann. §27‑2‑202(1)
NebraskaCited	5 years	Yes	4 years	Neb. Rev. Stat. §25‑205
NevadaCited	6 years	Yes	4 years	Nev. Rev. Stat. §11.190(1)(b)
New HampshireCited	3 years	Yes	3 years	N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. §508:4
New JerseyCited	6 years	Yes	6 years	N.J.S.A. 2A:14‑1
New MexicoCited	6 years	Yes	4 years	NMSA 1978 §37‑1‑3
New York	6 years	No	6 years	N.Y. C.P.L.R. §213(2)
North Carolina	3 years	No	3 years (same as written)	N.C.G.S. § 1‑52(1)
North DakotaCited	6 years	Yes	6 years	N.D.C.C. §28‑01‑16
Ohio	6 years	No	4 years	Ohio Rev. Code §2305.06
OklahomaCited	5 years	Yes	3 years	12 O.S. §95(A)(1)
OregonCited	6 years	No	6 years	ORS 12.080(1)
Pennsylvania	4 years	Yes	4 years	42 Pa.C.S. §5525
Rhode IslandCited	10 years	Yes	10 years	R.I. Gen. Laws §9‑1‑13(a)
South CarolinaCited	3 years	Yes	3 years	S.C. Code §15‑3‑530(1)
South DakotaCited	6 years	Yes	6 years	SDCL §15‑2‑13
TennesseeCited	6 years	Yes	6 years	Tenn. Code Ann. §28‑3‑109(a)(3)
Texas	4 years	Yes	4 years	Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.004
UtahCited	6 years	Yes	4 years	Utah Code §78B‑2‑309
VermontCited	6 years	Yes	6 years	12 V.S.A. §511
VirginiaCited	5 years	No	3 years	Va. Code §8.01‑246(2)
WashingtonCited	6 years	Yes	3 years	RCW 4.16.040
West VirginiaCited	10 years	Yes	5 years	W. Va. Code §55‑2‑6
WisconsinCited	6 years	Yes	6 years	Wis. Stat. §893.43
WyomingCited	10 years	Yes	8 years	Wyo. Stat. §1‑3‑105(a)(i)

What these pages are, and what they aren't

Each state page is a reference for the written-contract limitations period and the neutral steps you can take after a breach. They are deliberately not advice for your specific case: the form of the contract, the accrual date, the UCC, and exceptions like sealed instruments can all change the answer, so each page links to the statute and a way to reach a licensed attorney. This is legal information, not legal advice.