New York at a glance
Rules, not your dateChild sexual abuse: the civil deadline
Until age 55, against the abuser or any party whose intentional or negligent acts are alleged to have led to the abuse. Notice-of-claim rules do not apply. The rule is in N.Y. C.P.L.R. 208(b).
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
20 years for rape and certain other felony sex offenses. Otherwise 1 year for assault and battery claims. The Adult Survivors Act revival window for older claims ran Nov. 24, 2022 to Nov. 24, 2023 and has closed. The rule is in N.Y. C.P.L.R. 213-c, 215(3).
Revival and lookback windows
New York opened a window that revived expired sexual abuse claims. It ran from August 14, 2019 to August 14, 2021. It is closed now. The law was N.Y. C.P.L.R. 214-g (Child Victims Act, L. 2019 c. 11, window extended by L. 2020 c. 130).
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
Notice of claim within 90 days after the claim arises. Does not apply to claims for child sexual abuse or incest under Penal Law articles 130 and 255, or to claims revived under CPLR 214-j. See N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law § 50-e(1)(a), (8).
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 New York
- Catholic diocese abuse claims: Buffalo, Albany and Ogdensburg dioceses in Chapter 11
- The Epstein estate settlement: Estate settlement in the Southern District of New York
- The 2023 Carroll verdict is final: Civil verdicts in the Southern District of New York
- Sean Combs: Civil Suits and the Federal Criminal Case: Criminal case and civil suits in New York
- Juvenile facility sexual abuse lawsuits, state by state: Juvenile facility abuse cases in this state
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.
- N.Y. C.P.L.R. 208(b) (childhood claims). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- N.Y. C.P.L.R. 213-c, 215(3) (adult claims). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- N.Y. C.P.L.R. 214-g (Child Victims Act, L. 2019 c. 11, window extended by L. 2020 c. 130) (revival window). Accurate as of October 7, 2026.
- N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law § 50-e(1)(a), (8) (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).
