Alabama law has a statute of limitations for filing a personal injury claim which means that in the state of Alabama you have two years in order to file a claim from the date of the accident or incident. This applies to all kinds of accident including fatalities and wrongful death lawsuits.
However, there are some exceptions to the two-year period. First, the period can be extended if the injured party is a minor or incompetent. In this case, the two year time limit will not begin until the minor has turned 19. In the case of someone said to be incompetent, the court will appoint a guardian to decide for them.
Second, the two year period can also be extended if the injury is not yet known. This might be the case if there was medical malpractice and due to a mistake by a doctor the actual damage did not become evident until more than two years had passed since the procedure.
Almost all personal injury claims are due to negligence, assault, and recklessness or a product being fundamentally flawed. These are known in law as “tort” which is a civil case, rather than criminal, and one which justifies financial recompense and has a two year limit in which to file a claim.
However, there can be circumstances where although the two years have passed, there could be a claim for breach of contract, if there was a contract which said that a safe place of work would be guaranteed for example, and in these cases there could be a claim for breach of contract which has a six year time limit rather than two.
