Delaware at a glance
Rules, not your dateChild sexual abuse: the civil deadline
No deadline for sexual abuse of a minor by an adult, where the acts would be a crime under Delaware law. The rule is in 10 Del. C. § 8145(a).
That is the deadline for a civil lawsuit, a claim for money damages. A criminal prosecution runs on a separate clock set by the state’s criminal code, and a report to police can be made whether or not a civil claim is still open. How the two differ.
Adult sexual assault: the civil deadline
2 years (general personal injury period). The rule is in 10 Del. C. § 8119.
Revival and lookback windows
Delaware opened a window that revived expired sexual abuse claims. It ran from July 9, 2007 to July 9, 2009. It is closed now. The law was 10 Del. C. § 8145(b) (76 Del. Laws, c. 102); entity damages need gross negligence. Also 18 Del. C. § 6856(3)b: child patients of health-care providers, to 2012-07-13.
A revival window, sometimes called a lookback window, lets survivors file claims that had already expired, for a set period. Closed windows stay listed here with their dates, because a claim filed while one was open may still be moving through the courts. Every state’s window, side by side.
Claims against public entities
No statewide notice-of-claim deadline. A county or town may require notice by ordinance, but notice given within 1 year of the event cannot bar suit. Counties and towns are otherwise broadly immune from tort suits. A 2022 law removed immunity for public schools in suits over child sexual abuse by an adult employee or agent. See 10 Del. C. §§ 4013(c), 4011, 4006.
A claim against a public body often needs a written notice filed with that body first, and the notice period can be far shorter than the deadline for the lawsuit itself.
Active lawsuits and institutions in Delaware
- The Boy Scouts settlement is now final: The bankruptcy case was in the District of Delaware
The deadlines described here are general rules, and most of them have exceptions. The date that governs a particular claim turns on the state, the person’s age when the abuse happened, when they connected it to the harm it caused, and who the defendant is. A claim against a public agency or a public school can carry a written notice requirement that runs out long before the ordinary deadline.
Nothing on this page can tell you your own date. A lawyer who looks at your facts can, and there is no charge to ask.
- 10 Del. C. § 8145(a) (childhood claims). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- 10 Del. C. § 8119 (adult claims). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- 10 Del. C. § 8145(b) (76 Del. Laws, c. 102); entity damages need gross negligence. Also 18 Del. C. § 6856(3)b: child patients of health-care providers, to 2012-07-13 (revival window). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- 10 Del. C. §§ 4013(c), 4011, 4006 (notice to public entities). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- CHILD USA, statute of limitations research (used as a cross-check, not as the source of any rule above).
