If any person suffers a disability specified in Code Section 9-3-90 after his right of action has accrued and the disability is not voluntarily caused or undertaken by the person claiming the benefit thereof, the limitation applicable to his cause of action shall cease to operate during the continuance of the disability.
§ 9-3-91.Disabilities suffered after accrual of cause
Chapter 3. Limitations of Actions · Article 5. Tolling of Limitations · Last amended 1933 · Last verified July 17, 2026
In one sentenceO.C.G.A. § 9-3-91 stops the limitations clock for a person who develops a disability described in O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90 after a claim has already accrued, so long as the person did not voluntarily cause or bring on that disability, and the pause lasts only while the disability continues.
Full Text of § 9-3-91
Plain-English Summary
O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90 pauses the limitations clock for people who are already disabled when their claim first arises. This section covers the mirror-image situation: a person whose claim has already accrued — the clock is already running — who is later struck by one of the same kinds of disability. Once that happens, the limitations period stops running for as long as the disability continues, then resumes where it left off once the disability ends.
The tolling only helps people who did not bring the disability on themselves. If the disability was voluntarily caused or undertaken by the person claiming its benefit, the clock keeps running as though nothing happened. This condition matters most where the disability in question is something within the person’s own control, and it keeps the tolling rule from becoming a tool for delay rather than protection.
Unlike O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90, which measures from the date of accrual, this section measures from whenever the disability begins — which could be years into an already-running limitations period.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does O.C.G.A. § 9-3-91 apply if someone was already disabled when their claim accrued?
No. That scenario is covered by O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90; this section applies only when the disability arises “after his right of action has accrued.”
What happens to the limitations clock once a qualifying disability begins under this section?
It ceases to operate — stops running — “during the continuance of the disability.”
Can a person toll the limitations period by causing their own disability?
No. The tolling applies only if the disability “is not voluntarily caused or undertaken by the person claiming the benefit thereof.”
Does the limitations clock resume once the disability ends?
Yes. The statute tolls the limitation only “during the continuance of the disability,” so the pause lasts only as long as the disability itself lasts.
What kinds of disabilities can trigger tolling under this section?
The disabilities specified in O.C.G.A. § 9-3-90 — legal incompetency from intellectual disability or mental illness, and minority. Subsection (c) of that section also mentions imprisonment, but only as a one-time historical transition tied to a 1984 amendment, not an ongoing disability category.
Amendment History
Laws 1817, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 567.; Ga. L. 1855-56, p. 233, § 20; Code 1863, § 2868; Code 1868, § 2876; Code 1873, § 2927; Code 1882, § 2927; Civil Code 1895, § 3780; Civil Code 1910, § 4375; Code 1933, § 3-802.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, published by the
Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Georgia Code Revision Commission / LexisNexis. Last verified July 17, 2026.
· Official source
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