Understanding Idaho’s Statute Of Limitations

Every state and every type of lawsuit has a statute of limitations, which is the amount of time you have to take legal action against a person or organization. In personal injury cases, it would be against the entity that caused your injury. Know these state-regulated limits so that you can contact an accident lawyer in plenty of time and receive the compensation you deserve.

Idaho Statute Of Limitations

The majority of personal injury claims in Idaho have a statute of limitations of two years. That two-year limit starts on the day of the incident that caused your injury. If the personal injury claim in question regards a wrongful death, the two-year countdown begins on the day of the person’s death. Other personal injury claims that you only have two years to bring to court include medical malpractice, car accidents, and product liability cases.

If you bring any of these cases to a personal injury or accident lawyer just two years and one day after the incident occurred, your case will likely not have legal standing anymore. States across the country have each enacted their own statute of limitations to preserve the idea that legal disputes should be resolved in a timely fashion, as memories and evidence disappear over time.

Exceptions To Idaho’s Statute Of Limitations

There is an exception for medical malpractice claims that involve a foreign object being left in the body. In those cases, you would have two years from the date you found out about or should have known of your injury. In product liability action, the two-year time limit needs to be within the product’s useful and safe life. This safe lifetime is generally presumed to last until 10 years after the delivery of the product, at which point a reasonable user could assume that the product may be unsafe.

There are also special exceptions for cases that involve children. According to Idaho law, when a minor is injured the two-year statute of limitations starts on the day the minor turns 18. However, the statute of limitations may not be delayed any longer than six years as a result of the injured person’s status as a minority. Wrongful death lawsuits filed on a minor’s behalf must still be done so within the standard two-year limit.

Whether or not you believe that you have a good understanding of Idaho’s statute of limitations, you should seek advice from an accident lawyer as soon as possible after the incident. As a professional, they will have the best advice and will know exactly how to navigate the law so that you receive just compensation.