How Long Do You Have to File a Brain Injury Claim in Texas?
Two years for most claims, but three things can change that, and one of them, the medical cause, tightens the practical timetable to well under a year.
- 138Google reviews
- 3Attorneys on your case
- 2 yrsTexas filing deadline
- No feeUnless we win
Two years from the injury
Section 16.003 gives two years from the date of injury to file suit, and wrongful death runs two years from the date of death. Filing means commencing a lawsuit, not opening a claim or negotiating with an insurer.
In a brain injury case the injured person frequently cannot manage their own affairs in the period after the injury, which is one reason the deadline can arrive before a family has understood there is a claim to bring.
Incapacity can toll the period
Where the injury itself leaves the claimant without the mental capacity to manage their affairs, the limitations period may be tolled, that is, paused, until capacity returns or a legal representative is appointed.
This is significant in severe brain injury cases specifically, because the injury that grounds the claim is also what may have caused the incapacity. It is argued on specific facts and should not be assumed.
Minors have longer
A claimant who was a minor generally has until two years after turning eighteen. This matters in birth injury and childhood head injury cases, where the claim belongs to the child.
A parent or guardian brings the claim in the meantime, and any settlement requires court approval to protect the child's interest.
Governmental defendants: months, not years
Where a city or county vehicle, a public road defect, a failed signal, or a public hospital contributed, the Texas Tort Claims Act requires formal written notice within six months, and many cities impose shorter periods by charter.
Missing notice bars the claim regardless of merit. It is the deadline that ends these claims most often, and it runs while a family is dealing with an acute medical crisis.
Medical cause: the 120-day report compresses everything
Where the injury was caused by medical negligence, the two-year period still applies, but the Chapter 74 expert report is due within 120 days of filing. A report that meets the standard has to be prepared before suit is realistically filed.
That means the real work, obtaining and having an expert review a complete set of medical records, has to start long before the two-year mark, because the records alone can take months to assemble.
Why the evidence deadline is sooner still
Camera footage overwrites within days. Vehicle event data is lost on repair. And the contemporaneous documentation of cognitive symptoms, the account of what changed in the days and weeks after the injury, cannot be created retrospectively.
A family that waits eighteen months has preserved the limitations period and lost the evidence that would have proved the injury and its cause.
Summary
| Situation | Deadline | Runs from |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury suit | 2 years | Date of injury |
| Wrongful death | 2 years | Date of death |
| Claimant lacks capacity | May be tolled | Until capacity or a representative |
| Claimant was a minor | Generally 2 years from age 18 | 18th birthday |
| Governmental defendant | Formal notice in months | Date of the incident |
| Medical cause | 2 years, plus 120-day expert report | Injury, and filing |
Keep reading
Texas Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer
A traumatic brain injury is the injury most often missed at the emergency room and most often disputed afterwards.
Practice areaConcussion or Traumatic Brain Injury
There is no difference in kind. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury.
ReadLong Term Care Costs After a Brain Injury
The hospital bill is the part everyone sees.
ReadTexas Brain Injury Law
A brain injury claim runs on the same Texas negligence framework as any injury case, but three features...
ReadBrain Injury Settlements
Brain injury claims have the widest value range of any injury type, from modest to life-changing...
ReadMedical Malpractice Brain Injury
Some brain injuries are caused by the medical care meant to help, an oxygen-deprivation injury during surgery, a missed stroke, a birth injury.
Read
Frequently asked questions
Two years from the date of injury for most claims. Where a governmental unit is responsible, formal written notice is required within months, and where the cause was medical negligence, an expert report is due within 120 days of filing.
The limitations period may be tolled until capacity returns or a legal representative is appointed. This is significant in severe brain injury cases, because the injury that grounds the claim is also what may have caused the incapacity.
Generally the child has until two years after turning eighteen. A parent or guardian brings the claim in the meantime, and any settlement requires court approval to protect the child's interest.
Because the evidence perishes far sooner, footage in days, vehicle data on repair, and in medical cases the records take months to assemble and have reviewed by an expert before the 120-day report can be prepared.
Talk it through with a lawyer
A free consultation covers whether you have a claim, what the deadline is, and what insurance is actually available.
Contingency fee. You pay nothing unless we win.