Florida at a glance
Rules, not your dateChild sexual abuse: the civil deadline
No deadline for claims related to sexual battery of a child under 16, including negligence claims against private institutions, unless already time-barred by July 1, 2010. Other abuse: until age 25, or 4 years after leaving the abuser's dependency or after discovery, whichever is later. The rule is in Fla. Stat. § 95.11(8), (10).
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
4 years for battery and other intentional torts. Negligence claims, such as a claim that an institution failed to protect: 2 years if the claim arose after March 24, 2023, 4 years before. The rule is in Fla. Stat. § 95.11(3)(n), (5)(a).
Revival and lookback windows
Florida has not enacted a window that revives sexual abuse claims whose deadline had already passed.
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
Written claim to the agency (and, except for a city or county, to the Department of Financial Services) within 3 years after the claim accrues, and suit within 4 years. Two appeals courts apply that 4-year limit, not the no-deadline rule, to child sexual abuse claims against a school board. No exemption for childhood sexual abuse appears in the section. See Fla. Stat. § 768.28(6)(a), (14).
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 Florida
- Roblox litigation: Attorney general suit against Roblox
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.
- Fla. Stat. § 95.11(8), (10) (childhood claims). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- Fla. Stat. § 95.11(3)(n), (5)(a) (adult claims). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- Fla. Stat. § 768.28(6)(a), (14) (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).
