Statute of Limitations for Breach of Contract by State (Written vs. Oral)

When someone breaks a deal, the law gives you a window to sue. But the statute of limitations breach of contract by state is one of the least uniform deadlines in the entire legal system. For a personal injury claim, most states cluster around two or three years. For contracts, the spread runs from three years on the short end all the way to ten, and the answer can flip depending on a single detail: whether your agreement was written down or sealed with a handshake.

That detail matters more than most people expect. In many states, an oral contract carries a noticeably shorter deadline than the same promise put in writing, even when the underlying facts are identical. Miss the window and the breach itself stops mattering. A court will dismiss the case no matter how clearly the other side broke their word. This guide compares written and oral contract deadlines across all 50 states, explains when the clock starts, and covers the separate four-year rule that applies when the contract is for the sale of goods.

Written vs. oral contracts: why oral is usually shorter

Most states draw a line between contracts you can prove on paper and contracts that exist only because two people agreed out loud. The logic is about evidence. A written contract creates a durable record a court can examine years later. An oral contract relies on memory and testimony, which fade and conflict as time passes. To keep stale he-said-she-said disputes out of court, legislatures often give oral agreements a tighter deadline.

The gap can be significant. In California, a written contract gets four years while an oral one gets two. Arizona splits six years for written against three for oral. Washington runs six versus three. Illinois gives a full ten years on a written contract but five on an oral one. Plenty of states treat them the same, though. Texas applies four years to both, New York applies six to both, and Louisiana applies ten to both. The only way to know your number is to check your specific state and contract type.

When does the breach-of-contract clock start?

For most contract claims, the limitations clock starts on the date of the breach, not the date the contract was signed. The breach is the moment performance was due and the other party failed to deliver: the payment that never arrived, the work that was never finished, the goods that were never shipped. That is when your right to sue comes into existence, and that is the day the countdown begins.

This is different from injury claims, where a “discovery rule” often delays the clock until you knew or should have known about the harm. Contract law tends to be stricter. In many states the clock runs from the breach itself, even if you did not immediately realize the other side had defaulted. If a contract calls for a series of payments or ongoing performance, each missed obligation can start its own separate clock, which makes pinning down the exact breach date especially important. When the date is genuinely unclear, that is worth confirming carefully, because everything downstream depends on it.

The UCC rule for sales of goods

There is a major exception to everything above. When a contract is for the sale of goods (physical, movable products rather than services or real estate), it usually falls under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code rather than general state contract law. UCC section 2-725 sets a four-year limitation period for breach of a contract for sale, and the vast majority of states have adopted Article 2 in some form.

This matters because the UCC deadline can be shorter or longer than your state’s general contract deadline. A state that gives written contracts ten years might still apply only four years to a dispute over a delivery of merchandise, because the sale of goods is governed by the UCC instead. The UCC also has its own quirk on timing: the clock generally runs from when the breach occurs, regardless of whether the buyer knew about it, unless a warranty explicitly extends to future performance. If your dispute involves a product rather than a service, do not assume the general contract table below controls. The four-year UCC rule may apply instead.

The widest range of any claim type

Contracts have the broadest spread of any deadline we track. On the short end, states like Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alaska, and New Hampshire cap written contracts at three years. On the long end, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Wyoming all reach ten years for written agreements. That is a more than threefold difference depending on where the contract was made or where suit is brought.

Oral contracts spread out too, from two years in California up to ten years in Louisiana and Rhode Island. A few states, like Wyoming, even land in between with an eight-year oral deadline. The table below shows both columns for every state so you can compare directly.

State	Written	Oral	Statute
Alabama	6 yrs	6 yrs	AL contract limitations statute (written)
Alaska	3 yrs	3 yrs	AK contract limitations statute (written)
Arizona	6 yrs	3 yrs	AZ contract limitations statute (written)
Arkansas	5 yrs	3 yrs	AR contract limitations statute (written)
California	4 yrs	2 yrs	CA contract limitations statute (written)
Colorado	3 yrs	3 yrs	CO contract limitations statute (written)
Connecticut	6 yrs	3 yrs	CT contract limitations statute (written)
Delaware	3 yrs	3 yrs	DE contract limitations statute (written)
District of Columbia	3 yrs	3 yrs	DC contract limitations statute (written)
Florida	5 yrs	4 yrs	FL contract limitations statute (written)
Georgia	6 yrs	4 yrs	GA contract limitations statute (written)
Hawaii	6 yrs	6 yrs	HI contract limitations statute (written)
Idaho	5 yrs	4 yrs	ID contract limitations statute (written)
Illinois	10 yrs	5 yrs	IL contract limitations statute (written)
Indiana	10 yrs	6 yrs	IN contract limitations statute (written)
Iowa	10 yrs	5 yrs	IA contract limitations statute (written)
Kansas	5 yrs	3 yrs	KS contract limitations statute (written)
Kentucky	10 yrs	5 yrs	KY contract limitations statute (written)
Louisiana	10 yrs	10 yrs	LA contract limitations statute (written)
Maine	6 yrs	6 yrs	ME contract limitations statute (written)
Maryland	3 yrs	3 yrs	MD contract limitations statute (written)
Massachusetts	6 yrs	6 yrs	MA contract limitations statute (written)
Michigan	6 yrs	6 yrs	MI contract limitations statute (written)
Minnesota	6 yrs	6 yrs	MN contract limitations statute (written)
Mississippi	3 yrs	3 yrs	MS contract limitations statute (written)
Missouri	10 yrs	5 yrs	MO contract limitations statute (written)
Montana	8 yrs	5 yrs	MT contract limitations statute (written)
Nebraska	5 yrs	4 yrs	NE contract limitations statute (written)
Nevada	6 yrs	4 yrs	NV contract limitations statute (written)
New Hampshire	3 yrs	3 yrs	NH contract limitations statute (written)
New Jersey	6 yrs	6 yrs	NJ contract limitations statute (written)
New Mexico	6 yrs	4 yrs	NM contract limitations statute (written)
New York	6 yrs	6 yrs	NY contract limitations statute (written)
North Carolina	3 yrs	3 yrs	NC contract limitations statute (written)
North Dakota	6 yrs	6 yrs	ND contract limitations statute (written)
Ohio	8 yrs	6 yrs	OH contract limitations statute (written)
Oklahoma	5 yrs	3 yrs	OK contract limitations statute (written)
Oregon	6 yrs	6 yrs	OR contract limitations statute (written)
Pennsylvania	4 yrs	4 yrs	PA contract limitations statute (written)
Rhode Island	10 yrs	10 yrs	RI contract limitations statute (written)
South Carolina	3 yrs	3 yrs	SC contract limitations statute (written)
South Dakota	6 yrs	6 yrs	SD contract limitations statute (written)
Tennessee	6 yrs	6 yrs	TN contract limitations statute (written)
Texas	4 yrs	4 yrs	TX contract limitations statute (written)
Utah	6 yrs	4 yrs	UT contract limitations statute (written)
Vermont	6 yrs	6 yrs	VT contract limitations statute (written)
Virginia	5 yrs	3 yrs	VA contract limitations statute (written)
Washington	6 yrs	3 yrs	WA contract limitations statute (written)
West Virginia	10 yrs	5 yrs	WV contract limitations statute (written)
Wisconsin	6 yrs	6 yrs	WI contract limitations statute (written)
Wyoming	10 yrs	8 yrs	WY contract limitations statute (written)

Want your exact deadline calculated from the breach date? Run it through the deadline calculator, or jump straight to your state’s written-contract page, like California, Texas, or New York.

Contracts under seal and written debt

A few older legal categories can stretch the deadline even further. Some states still recognize contracts “under seal,” a formal type of written instrument that historically carried an extended limitation period. These are rare in everyday dealings but can surface in real estate, certain promissory notes, and other formal documents.

There is also heavy overlap between contract claims and debt. Most consumer debts (credit cards, loans, financing agreements) are written contracts, and many states use the same limitations period for both. If your dispute is really about money owed rather than a broken service agreement, the debt-collection rules may frame it better. See our companion guide on the debt collection statute of limitations by state for how those deadlines work and the trap that can restart the clock.

How to protect your claim

The deadline is a ceiling, not a target. Waiting until the final months narrows your options and gives the other side room to argue about exactly when the breach occurred. A few practical steps:

1. Pin down the breach date. Identify the precise day performance was due and not delivered. That date, not the signing date, usually starts the clock.
2. Confirm your contract type. Written, oral, or a sale of goods under the UCC. The category determines which deadline applies.
3. Gather your documentation early. The contract, invoices, emails, texts, and any record of the missed performance. Evidence is easier to collect now than years later.
4. Calculate the deadline. Use the deadline calculator to map the breach date to your state’s limit, then build in a buffer.
5. Act well before the cutoff. Filing leaves margin for negotiation, settlement, and the procedural steps a lawsuit requires.

For a broader picture of how these deadlines compare across every type of claim, see our statute of limitations by state overview and our explainer on what a statute of limitations is.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does an email or text count as a written contract?

It often can. A written contract does not require a formal signed document. A clear exchange of terms in emails or texts may qualify, which can matter a lot in states where written agreements get a longer deadline than oral ones. How a court treats it depends on the facts and your state’s rules.

What if I’m not sure exactly when the breach happened?

The breach date drives the entire calculation, so an unclear date is worth nailing down. Look for the specific moment performance was due and not delivered. With installment contracts or ongoing obligations, each missed performance may start its own clock, so there can be more than one relevant date.

Which deadline applies if my contract involves both goods and services?

Mixed contracts can be tricky. Courts often look at the “predominant purpose” of the agreement. If it is mainly about goods, the UCC’s four-year rule tends to apply; if it is mainly about services, general state contract law usually governs. The classification can change your deadline, so it is worth analyzing carefully.

Can the statute of limitations be paused or extended?

Sometimes. Depending on the state, factors like the defendant leaving the state, fraudulent concealment of the breach, or the plaintiff being a minor can pause (“toll”) the clock. Some contracts also contain clauses that shorten or address the limitation period. These rules vary widely by state.

This article is general information, not legal advice.

Contract deadlines turn on details (written versus oral, the breach date, and whether the UCC applies) that are easy to get wrong from memory. Enter your breach date and state in the deadline calculator to see how much time you have left before the window closes.