Texas Wrongful Death Statute of Limitations: Two Years From Death Under CPRC § 16.003(b)
Reviewed and current as of August 31, 2026. California law can change; verify against the current statute before relying on any date.
A person must bring suit not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues in an action for injury resulting in death.
The statute states expressly that the cause of action accrues on the death of the injured person.
Source: Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003(b) (as of August 31, 2026).
What the statute says
Section 16.003(b) gives wrongful death its own subsection and, unusually, settles accrual on the face of the statute: the cause of action accrues on the death of the injured person. Many jurisdictions leave that question to case law; Texas does not.
That express language removes an argument that recurs elsewhere — that the period should run from the underlying injury rather than the death. Under subsection (b) it runs from the death.
When the clock starts
On the date of death, by statute. Where death follows a lengthy illness or a delayed complication, the two years run from the death rather than from the original injury, even if that injury occurred years earlier.
A survival claim for the decedent's own pre-death damages is a distinct action and should be analyzed separately rather than assumed to share this accrual date.
Key exceptions and tolling
- Health care liability deaths.Where the death arises from health care, section 74.251 governs, with its own measuring points and a ten-year statute of repose that can bar the claim independently.
- Survival actions are separate.A claim for the decedent's own pre-death damages is a distinct cause of action from the wrongful death claim and is analyzed on its own terms.
- Disability tolling.Section 16.001 addresses the effect of a beneficiary's legal disability on the running of the period.
- Governmental defendants.Claims against Texas governmental units involve notice requirements under the Texas Tort Claims Act that are far shorter than two years and must be satisfied separately.
- Products liability repose.Where the death was caused by a product, the 15-year repose in section 16.012 can bar the claim regardless of the accrual date.
Frequently asked
How long do you have to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Texas?
Two years after the cause of action accrues, and section 16.003(b) provides that it accrues on the death of the injured person. This is general information, not legal advice.
Does the Texas wrongful death clock run from the injury or the death?
From the death. Section 16.003(b) states expressly that the cause of action accrues on the death of the injured person, so an injury years earlier does not start the period.
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Not legal advice. This page is general information for licensed attorneys and is not a substitute for independent legal research or professional judgment. It does not address the facts of any specific matter. Statutes, case law, and court rules change; tolling, the discovery rule, equitable estoppel, and claims involving minors, government entities, or out-of-state defendants can all change the applicable deadline. Confirm every date against the current text of Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.003 and controlling case law. Using this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Statutory citations current as of August 31, 2026.