If a person entitled to bring an action dies before the expiration of the applicable limitations period, and the cause of action survives, an action may be commenced before the expiration of the later of the following times:
§ 366.1.Death of Person Entitled to Bring Action Before Expiration of Limitations Period
Title 2. Of the Time of Commencing Civil Actions · Chapter 6. Time of Commencement of Action After Person's Death · Enacted 1992 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 366.1 lets a surviving action be commenced by the later of six months after the death of the person entitled to sue or the otherwise-applicable limitations period, when that person dies before the limitations period expires.
Full Text of § 366.1
(a) Six months after the person's death.
(b) The limitations period that would have been applicable if the person had not died.
Plain-English Summary
Section 366.1 addresses what happens when a person entitled to bring an action dies before the deadline to sue runs out, and the cause of action survives the person's death. Rather than leaving successors to race an unchanged deadline, the section gives whichever is later of two measuring points: six months after the death, or the limitations period that would have applied had the person lived.
Picking the later date means the six-month period only matters when death occurs close to the original deadline. If death happens early in the limitations period, the original deadline, measured as if the person had not died, still controls, because it falls later than six months after death.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to a lawsuit's deadline if the person entitled to sue dies first?
Section 366.1 lets the action be commenced by the later of six months after the person's death or the limitations period that would have applied if the person had not died.
Does § 366.1 always add six months to the deadline?
Not necessarily. The six-month period only controls when it falls later than the original limitations period; otherwise the original period, unaffected by the death, still applies.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1992, Ch. 178, Sec. 8. Effective January 1, 1993.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: plaintiff dies before statute of limitations expires californiasurvival action deadline after death