How Long Do You Have to Take Legal Action After a Child Is Injured?

For many Florida negligence claims that accrued after March 24, 2023, the current statute provides a two-year limitation period. Florida’s 2023 tort-reform legislation specifically made that amendment applicable to causes of action accruing after March 24, 2023.

But that two-year period should not be treated as a universal answer for every injury involving a child.

Different rules can apply to:

The correct deadline should be determined from the actual facts and legal theory involved.

Florida’s limitation statute contains different deadlines for different causes of action.

Under the currently published Florida statute:

That means the first legal question should not be:

“How old is the child?”

It should be:

“What type of legal claim may exist, when did it accrue, and are any special rules involved?”

Florida Statute § 95.11 currently provides a two-year limitation period for an action founded on negligence.

That category can potentially include many ordinary personal injury matters involving allegations such as:

But the current two-year rule is particularly important because Florida changed its negligence limitation period in 2023.

The Florida Legislature’s statutory note states that the amendments made by Chapter 2023-15 to § 95.11 apply to causes of action accruing after March 24, 2023.

Developer Callout:

Current Florida negligence rule: generally two years for causes of action accruing after March 24, 2023. Older claims may require a different analysis.

Before Florida’s 2023 tort-reform legislation, the statute generally provided a four-year limitation period for negligence.

The Legislature expressly stated that the amendment changing § 95.11 applies to causes of action accruing after March 24, 2023.

That means older incidents should not automatically be analyzed under the same deadline as newer incidents.

Parents should provide the legal team with:

The date matters.

This is one of the most important issues for the website to explain correctly.

Florida Statute § 95.051 identifies specific circumstances in which minority can toll a limitations period.

The statute addresses periods when a parent, guardian, or guardian ad litem:

Even then, the statute generally provides a seven-year outside period for those tolling circumstances, and it expressly treats medical-malpractice claims differently.

So parents should not rely on the assumption:

“My child is under 18, so we have until adulthood.”

That can be dangerously wrong.

Even apart from the legal filing deadline, practical evidence can disappear much sooner.

Examples include:

That means:

Legal deadline ≠ evidence deadline.

A family may technically still have time to file while important evidence has already disappeared.

When a child is injured at a Florida public school or in a matter involving another state agency or governmental subdivision, Florida’s sovereign-immunity statute can add requirements beyond the ordinary negligence statute.

Florida Statute § 768.28 generally requires a claimant to present a tort claim in writing to the appropriate agency within three years after the claim accrues, with additional presentation to the Department of Financial Services in many state-agency matters.

That written presentation is a condition precedent to maintaining the action.

This makes identifying the correct governmental entity extremely important.

Florida’s government-liability statute creates both claim-presentation requirements and lawsuit deadlines.

For many claims under § 768.28:

Wrongful-death and medical-malpractice matters have separate timing provisions under the same statute.

This is why a parent should not simply search:

“Florida personal injury statute of limitations”

and assume the first number applies to a public-school case.

The legal team may need to determine:

That matters because the applicable defendant can affect both:

the substantive legal analysis

and

the deadline and notice requirements.

Florida School and Daycare Injury Claims

Florida medical-malpractice claims have their own limitations provision.

Under current § 95.11, a medical-malpractice action generally must be commenced within two years from the incident or from when the incident is discovered—or should have been discovered with due diligence—subject to a general four-year repose period.

Florida’s statute contains an important provision for minors: the four-year repose period does not bar an action brought on behalf of a minor on or before the child’s eighth birthday.

The statute also contains separate language for fraud, concealment, or intentional misrepresentation and again preserves the child’s eighth-birthday protection within that framework.

Medical-malpractice timing is complex enough that it should never be reduced to one sentence on a general child-injury page.

Florida medical-negligence cases also have mandatory presuit procedures.

Before issuing notice of intent to initiate medical-negligence litigation, the claimant must conduct a presuit investigation to determine whether reasonable grounds exist to believe the prospective defendant was negligent and that the negligence caused injury. Florida law also requires corroboration through a verified written medical-expert opinion.

After proper presuit notice is served, the prospective defendant generally receives a 90-day investigation period during which a suit may not be filed.

Florida law provides tolling rules during that presuit period.

So for medical-negligence matters, the legal team must evaluate:

limitations + repose + discovery + minor exception + presuit investigation + notice + tolling

—not simply “two years.”

Florida’s current limitations statute places wrongful-death actions within its two-year category.

Where a government entity is involved in a wrongful-death matter, § 768.28 also requires the claim to be presented in writing within two years after accrual rather than the general three-year government notice period.

For government wrongful-death claims, the agency’s failure to make final disposition within 90 days is deemed a denial for purposes of the statute, and the statute expressly addresses tolling during the agency’s review period.

A wrongful-death matter involving a child should therefore be evaluated promptly and separately from an ordinary nonfatal negligence case.

Florida’s statute contains distinct rules for certain intentional tort claims involving abuse.

For specified abuse-based claims, § 95.11 provides a period extending to the later of:

Florida also provides that certain actions involving specified offenses against victims who were under age 16 at the time of the act may be commenced at any time, subject to the statute’s historical application language.

These claims should receive their own trauma-informed and statute-specific review.

Florida § 95.11 separately places certain personal-injury actions founded on the design, manufacture, distribution, or sale of personal property within its four-year category.

That can potentially matter in cases involving allegations concerning:

The legal theory matters.

A child injury involving a product should therefore not automatically be assigned the ordinary two-year negligence deadline without evaluating the actual causes of action.

Consider a child injured at school.

That single event might potentially involve different legal issues depending on the facts:

Those legal theories can have different:

That is why a deadline analysis should identify:

1. Date

2. Location

3. Defendant

4. Legal theory

5. Public/private status

6. Discovery issues

7. Child’s age

8. Potential tolling

9. Special statutory procedures

Parents should try to provide:

Incident Information

Parties

Discovery

Prior Communications

Legal Activity

Those facts allow the legal team to determine which deadline analysis applies.

“My child is a minor, so we have until age 18.”

Not necessarily. Florida’s minority tolling provision applies only in specific circumstances involving the absence, adverse interest, or incapacity of a parent, guardian, or guardian ad litem, and includes an outside limitation.

“Every Florida injury case has a two-year deadline.”

No. Negligence is currently generally two years, but medical malpractice, public-entity claims, product theories, abuse claims, and other causes of action can have different rules.

“If it happened at a public school, we just file within two years.”

Not necessarily. Government claims can involve written notice requirements and § 768.28’s separate lawsuit timing rules.

“Medical malpractice is just another negligence case.”

No. Florida medical-negligence matters have specialized limitations, repose, minor provisions, presuit investigation, expert corroboration, and notice procedures.

“If the deadline is years away, there is no reason to call now.”

Even when a legal deadline remains open, evidence can disappear much sooner.

What is the current Florida statute of limitations for ordinary negligence?

For negligence causes of action accruing after March 24, 2023, Florida’s current statute generally provides a two-year limitation period.

What if the injury happened before March 24, 2023?

The 2023 amendment applies to causes of action accruing after March 24, 2023, so older incidents require analysis under the law applicable when the claim accrued.

Does my child’s age automatically extend the deadline?

No. Florida’s minority tolling provision is limited to specific circumstances identified in § 95.051.

How long do we have if a public school is involved?

That cannot responsibly be answered with one number. Florida § 768.28 generally requires written claim presentation within three years for many government tort claims and contains a separate four-year filing deadline, while wrongful-death and medical-malpractice claims have different timing rules.

How long do we have for medical malpractice involving a child?

Florida generally uses a two-year discovery-based period with a four-year repose period, while providing that the four-year repose period does not bar an action brought on behalf of a minor on or before the child’s eighth birthday. Additional presuit requirements also apply.

What is the deadline for wrongful death?

Florida’s current statute generally provides two years for wrongful-death actions.

Can an abuse claim have a longer deadline?

Yes. Florida contains specialized limitation rules for certain abuse-related intentional torts and specified offenses involving minors.

Should I wait until we know how serious the injury is?

Not necessarily. A legal review can identify timing and evidence-preservation issues while medical care continues. You do not need to know the final outcome before determining which deadlines apply.

We start with the facts.

When Did It Happen?

Identify the date of the incident and when the claim may have accrued.

What Kind of Claim May Exist?

Negligence? Product? Medical negligence? Government? Abuse? Wrongful death?

Who May Be Responsible?

Private person? Company? Public school? Municipality? State agency? Medical provider?

Does a Special Procedure Apply?

Government notice? Medical-malpractice presuit? Insurance notice?

Does Any Tolling Rule Apply?

Evaluate Florida’s actual tolling statute rather than assuming minority automatically extends the deadline.

What Evidence Needs Immediate Attention?

The filing deadline may not be the most urgent issue if evidence is at risk.

Only then can the family receive a meaningful answer about timing.