Exceptions to Toledo Car Accident Statute of Limitations

After a car accident, filing a car accident claim might not be your first priority. However, there is a certain period of time in which you are allowed to file a claim but after that time passes, you cannot pursue a case. If you wish to pursue a case, it is vital that you do so before the statute of limitations expires. Exceptions to Toledo car accident statute of limitations do exist, but the scenarios in which exceptions apply vary on a case-by-case basis. If you want to know more about statutes of limitations,  and exceptions to these statutes, get in touch with a knowledgeable car accident attorney today.

When a Trial Goes Beyond the Statute of Limitations

It does not make any difference when the trial date is; the lawsuit has to be filed in a competent of court of jurisdiction within the statute of limitations period. The lawsuit can go to trial after the statute of limitations, that makes no difference If the case is filed and the magic date is the filing date because the way the law is set up, they set up that the two-year statute for example for an auto accident case that you have to notify or put down a legal notice to the defendant of the potential claim, so the lawsuit can go on after the statute of limitations.

If the lawsuit is filed after the statute of limitations then the defendant usually would file a motion to dismiss and in the motion to dismiss they would quote the statute of limitations, indicate that there is no exception to the rule such as the defendant being out of state or any mental disability of the plaintiff, and they would file a motion to throw out the case. Typically, what happens is the case will be thrown out by the judge, in which case they cannot re-bring the lawsuit and the case does not have the right to go trial.

Special Allowances Made for Trials that Extend Beyond the Statute of Limitations

The magic date is the filing date of the lawsuit with the court and typically they would look at the file stamp date that the court—so typically if a person files a case at 4:30 PM on June 7th, if the statute of limitations was June 8th or afterwards, they would have filed the case within the statute of limitations. If it were filed outside the statute of limitations, that is when a person probably would be attacked with the motion to dismiss the case.

Statute of Limitations for Minors and the Disabled

The statute of limitations starts from a minor’s 18th birthday. For someone with disabilities, exceptions to Toledo car accident statute of limitations can be complicated. The law is disputed, it is not clear cut but there is an argument to be made that if someone is incompetent and during that time period does not have a guardian appointed for them that that would extend the statute of limitations. The argument would be 1) could a person prove that they were not mentally competent and 2) for what period of time and that would be the argument to extend the statute of limitations and that issue is more fact specific to how long they prove the period of mental disability through competent, meaning good quality, evidence.

Complexity of the Statutes of Limitation

The reason is there are all sorts of complications, there is one statute for an adult, there is another statute for a minor, there are also exceptions to Toledo car accident statute of limitations to most rules such as mental competency or if the defendant has been out of state or out of the country. These are not clear, easy-to-understand rules, often times one will find lawyers that do not understand that area of law that do not specialize in personal injury or car accidents that will miss the statute of limitations. The analogy if a person has a serious foot issue, the individual they would see would be a podiatrist or an orthopedic surgeon that specializes in that type of foot injury, they would want the same thing when they were filing a lawsuit.

Value of a Lawyer

A personal injury lawyer is instrumental to the pursuit of a car accident case. An experienced attorney will know about exceptions to Toledo car accident statute of limitations and can use that knowledge to your advantage if need be. Furthermore, if you contact a lawyer after receiving medical treatment and collecting the necessary evidence, they can start working on your case immediately, so that the statute of limitations is not an issue for you. If you have been involved in a car accident, get in touch with a lawyer who can work relentlessly to ensure that you receive the damages you deserve.