29.7 Statute of Limitations

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

29.7 Statute of Limitations. The statute of limitations for wrongful death claims is found not in the Wrongful Death Act but in A.R.S. § 12-542 , the statute of limitations for tort claims generally. Section 12-542 states that actions “for injuries done to the person of another when death ensues from such injuries” must be brought within two years of the wrongful death. The application of other, potentially longer statutory periods is pre-empted by § 12-542, and the 2-year period is not extended by § 12-504, which allows for a one-year tolling of the statute of limitations for causes of action held by a party before their death.⁵² Nor does § 12-502 toll the statute of limitations for a wrongful death claim where the claim is brought on behalf of a minor.⁵³

Because a survivor’s wrongful death claim does not accrue until “the death of the party injured,”⁵⁴ where the decedent lives for some period following an injury the decedent’s cause of action against the tortfeasor for his or her injuries will accrue earlier than the wrongful death claim, even years earlier. In Frongillo v. Grimett , a widow’s wrongful death claim brought within two years of her husband’s death but eight years after the tortious conduct causing harm was found to be timely.⁵⁵

The...