Also known as: toll the statute of limitations · tolling statute of limitations · tolled statute of limitations · tolling · equitable tolling
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal mechanism that suspends or extends the period within which a claim must be brought. The mechanism prevents the limitations period from running during periods of incapacity, concealment, discovery delays, or other specified equitable circumstances.
Tanner Thompson, a citizen of State A, slipped at a resort owned by an out-of-state corporation and filed a diversity action in federal court in State B after the normal personal-injury period expired. State B tolls limitations while a plaintiff is incapacitated. The federal court applies the state tolling rule because ignoring it would produce a different outcome than in state court.
Tobias Thomas, an art collector, sues to recover a painting stolen decades earlier and held by a gallery. The owner had searched diligently but could not locate the work or identify the possessor. Under the discovery rule the limitations period does not begin until the owner reasonably discovers the possessor's identity, so the action proceeds.
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Talia Torres challenges a state toll schedule in federal court on constitutional grounds. While administrative proceedings concerning the same schedule remain pending, the limitations period for her federal claim is suspended. The court treats the tolling as preserving the claim until the administrative process concludes.
Trevor Tate receives written assurances during settlement talks that a contract nonrenewal will be reconsidered. Relying on those assurances, he delays filing until after the general limitations period has run but within the time permitted by the state's reliance-tolling rule. The court applies the tolling provision and treats the action as timely.
State statutes of limitations and their associated tolling rules are treated as substantive for Erie purposes. A federal court sitting in diversity must apply them when ignoring the state rule would materially change the outcome of the litigation.
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Yes. When the state rule defines when the limitations period begins or is tolled, the federal court must apply it because the rule is outcome-determinative and therefore substantive under Erie.
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The period is tolled while the claim is pending in federal court and for thirty days after dismissal unless state law provides a longer period.
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No. Rule 3 addresses only when an action is commenced and does not govern tolling. The federal court must look to state law on that question.
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…claims of all parties. Lopez, supra , 62 N.J. at 274. If a chattel is concealed from the true owner, fairness compels tolling the statute during the period of concealment. See Lopez, supra , 62 N.J. at 275 n. 2; Developments, supra , 1220 (1950). That conclusion is consistent with tolling the statute of…