Court Procedures / Evidence / Service

Generally, for all types of legal cases, there is something called a statute of limitations, which means that there is a time limit for how long after someone can be sued after an incident happens. It applies both in civil cases for money damages as well as in criminal cases. For civil matters, there is generally a specific statute of limitations based on the type of case that a person is filing. In many civil cases, the statute of limitations is one year but this will vary from state to state and it will depend on the type of case that a person files. For example, if someone is suing for damages from an assault, that may have a shorter statute of limitations than someone who is suing for a breach of a contract. When the statute of limitations deals with criminal cases, it lays out how long after a crime is committed that the person can be charged with the crime. For serious crimes, such as murder, the statute may be indefinite – in other words, there is no time limit to charge the person. If the crime deals with sexual abuse of a child, for example, the statute may not start until after the victim turns 18 or 21. However, most crimes do have a specific statute of limitations. Since I cannot advise on the specifics of individual cases, you may want to meet with a lawyer to find out whether or not you can sue in your case and what the statute of limitations is. Here is a link for lawyers: LINK And here is some basic info on suing an abuser:LINK