California statute of limitations finder.

Settlement agreements are themselves contracts. A breach of a settlement runs on a fresh four-year clock from the breach of the settlement, not from the original underlying dispute.

Material vs. minor breach can affect when accrual begins; ongoing or anticipatory breaches require careful analysis.

Same accrual rules as written contracts, half the clock. Pleading a written agreement when the underlying contract was oral does not buy more time.

Hybrid agreements with some written and some oral terms: the relevant clock generally tracks the breach of whichever element is at issue.

Each new entry on the account can restart the clock. Long-running customer accounts should diary the limitations period from the most recent entry.

Discovery rule applies — but the diligence standard matters. Willful ignorance is not a defense; if a reasonable person would have investigated, the clock started at the trigger.

Some claims that look like contract claims can be pleaded as fraud, which can extend the clock — but only when the facts genuinely support fraud elements.

Pleading affects the clock. If the same facts can be alleged as fraud, the discovery-rule three-year period may apply instead of the two-year tort default.

Strategic decisions about fraud vs. negligent-misrepresentation framing belong with counsel — pleading too aggressively can invite anti-SLAPP / sanctions motions.

Government defendants require a separate six-month claim filing under Gov Code § 911.2 before a lawsuit can be filed.

Wrongful death claims have their own two-year clock running from the date of death.

Where the conversion is by fraud, the fraud-discovery rule may apply.

Demand-and-refusal scenarios (returning property after a request) can affect when the clock starts.

The line between trespass to chattels and conversion is fact-driven. Both run on the same three-year clock; the distinction matters for damages, not deadlines.

Continuing trespass (e.g., an encroachment that hasn't been removed) can produce fresh accrual on each day of continuation, but courts apply the doctrine narrowly.

California follows the single-publication rule for online content — re-posting the same material does not restart the clock; substantive edits may.

Claims connected to public-issue speech often face anti-SLAPP motions on top of the limitations question.

This is the core quiet-title and ejectment clock. Adverse-possession analysis runs on the same five-year period plus the tax-payment requirement of CCP § 325.

UCL is often layered onto contract or tort claims to extend the clock. The remedies are limited to restitution and injunctive relief — no damages — but the four-year period and broad standing make it a frequent companion claim.

Discovery rule generally does not apply to UCL claims; courts have rejected most attempts to import it.

Many statutory schemes specify their own clock that overrides this default. Always check the underlying statute first.

Applies to liabilities created by statute that don't have their own dedicated period. The statute being sued under often does have its own clock — check both before relying on this default.

The two clocks are sequential, not alternative — both must be met. The 2020 amendment expanded the administrative window from 1 year to 3 years; older incidents pre-2020 follow the prior rule.

Title VII has its own much shorter federal clock (300 days for the EEOC charge) which can apply alongside FEHA.

The three-year Labor Code clock can be bootstrapped to four years via a UCL claim seeking restitution. PAGA penalties have their own one-year clock plus 65-day pre-filing notice.

Wage-and-hour cases often span multiple pay periods, each with its own potential trigger — class-action and PAGA framing affects the analysis.

Pre-filing notice to the LWDA is required (typically a 65-day waiting period). The notice itself does not toll the limitations clock — file the lawsuit on time.

2024 PAGA reform changed the manageability and individual-vs.-representative dynamics; the limitations rule is unchanged.

Common-law Tameny claims run on the personal-injury clock. FEHA-based wrongful termination follows the FEHA timing instead and frequently produces a longer effective window.

Tolling applies during continuous representation on the same matter. The four-year outer bar is absolute — no discovery-rule extension past it.

A renewed judgment runs another ten years. Renewal must happen before the original judgment expires; once expired, the judgment is dead and cannot be revived.

Diary the renewal at nine years and again at nine-and-a-half. Missed renewals are total — no equitable relief available.

Older sister-state judgments must be renewed in the rendering state before California will domesticate them.

Foreign-country judgments use the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act, which has different timing rules.

This is the pre-suit administrative deadline, not the limitations period itself. Missing it generally bars the lawsuit entirely (with narrow late-claim relief).

Once the government rejects the claim, a separate statutory window opens for filing the actual lawsuit (typically six months under Gov. Code § 945.6).