Chapter 17-10 Commencement of Limitation Period

• Jurisdiction: United States

17-10 Commencement of Limitation Period

Generally, a limitation period commences when the cause of action accrues.⁴¹ Accrual can be said to occur, generally, when "the wrongful act effects an injury, regardless of when the plaintiff learned of such injury."⁴² Examples of the general accrual date of some common causes of action include:

• Breach of contract: "[A] breach of contract claim accrues when the contract is breached"⁴³
• Personal Injury: the date of the plaintiff's injury⁴⁴
• Debt Actions: the date of maturity for a note payable at a specific time;⁴⁵ or, in the case of a note due on demand, the date of the note's making;⁴⁶ or, if demand is subject to a condition precedent, upon demand⁴⁷
• Breach of Fiduciary Duty: upon the defendant's breach of duty⁴⁸
• Fraud: upon the defendant's fraudulent misrepresentation or omission⁴⁹
• Conversion: upon the defendant's successful conversion of personal property⁵⁰
• Trespass to Real Property:
• for a permanent trespass, upon the discovery of the injury;⁵¹ or
• for a temporary trespass, damages for any injury occurring two years prior to suit are recoverable⁵²
• Legal Malpractice:
• A cause of action for legal malpractice begins to run when the plaintiff discovers or should have discovered the facts establishing the elements of the plaintiff's cause of action.⁵³
• The cause of action is tolled until all appeals of the underlying suit are final-ized.⁵⁴

This general rule for accrual can be modified by statute. The following are examples of statutes defining accrual for certain types of actions:

• A healthcare liability claim (i.e., medical malpractice) must be commenced within two years from the occurrence of the breach or tort, unless the date of the negligence cannot be ascertained, in which case it runs from the date the medical or health care treatment that is the subject of the claim or the hospitalization for which the claim is made is completed.⁵⁵
• A wrongful death action must be brought within two years of the date of death.⁵⁶
• In cases involving negotiable instruments under the Texas Business & Commerce Code, the limitation period begins to run from the date defined in the statute.
• DTPA Actions.⁵⁷
• Suits for accounting or suits on certain accounts.⁵⁸

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Notes:

^[41] See, e.g., Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 16.002 (one-year limitation period begins to run "on the day the cause of action accrues"); § 16.003 (two-year limitation period expires "not later than two years after the day the...