Two years is the number families hear, and it is the number that ends the most claims when relied on alone. Several shorter clocks run at the same time, and one Travis County local rule can close a filed case.
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Six boxes, about thirty seconds. You pick when to be called back, and that is when the phone rings.
Or call (512) 729-9561Section 16.003(b) requires an action for injury resulting in death to be brought not later than two years after the day of the death. That is a different anchor from an ordinary injury claim, which runs from the injury. Where a person was hurt in one year and died in the next, the survival claim and the death claim can therefore carry different expiration dates on the same facts.
Section 16.062 suspends the running of an applicable limitations period for twelve months after a death, and then supplies the exception: if an executor or administrator qualifies before that twelve months expires, limitations begins to run at the qualification date. Opening an estate to pursue a survival claim can accordingly shorten the very period the family was relying on. Section 16.001 excludes time during which a person is under a legal disability, meaning younger than 18 or of unsound mind, while providing that disabilities may not be tacked and that a disability arising after a period begins does not suspend it.
Section 16.064 suspends limitations between the first filing and a second filing of the same action in a different court where the first court lacked jurisdiction and the refiling happens within 60 days of the date the dismissal or other disposition becomes final. Subsection (b) removes that protection where the adverse party shows the first filing was made with intentional disregard of proper jurisdiction.
Section 74.251 sets a two-year health care liability period measured from the occurrence of the breach or tort, or from the last date of the relevant course of treatment or hospitalization. Section 74.051 requires 60 days of written pre-suit notice by certified mail with the statutory authorization and tolls limitations for 75 days. Once suit is filed, section 74.351 imposes a 120-day expert report deadline measured from each defendant's original answer.
Section 101.101 requires notice of a claim against a governmental unit within six months of the incident, and subsection (b) expressly ratifies a shorter charter or ordinance provision. The City of Austin's claim instructions set a 45-day written claim requirement describing the date, time, location, occurrence, damages and supporting documents. Subsection (c) preserves a claim where the unit had actual notice of the death. Section 101.106 makes the choice of filing against the employee or the unit an irrevocable election.
The Division of Workers' Compensation's death benefits page directs beneficiaries to file a claim, and DWC Form-042 is the form used. That one-year benefit deadline is unconnected to the two-year civil period, runs in a different forum and is easy to lose while a family is still deciding whether to sue anyone.
Filing is not the last deadline. Under Local Rule 8.1 of the Travis County civil district courts, cases on file more than 180 days in which no answer has been filed are eligible for dismissal for want of prosecution on the court's own motion, as are cases on file more than 18 months that are not set for trial and have had no filings or settings within 180 days. Rule 8.3 provides that the Court Administrator gives notice and that such matters are dismissed summarily on the stated date unless a party acts. Under Local Rule 13.3(a), all cases set for trial on the jury docket or the non-jury long docket are automatically referred to pre-trial mediation.
Deadline analysis depends on dates, defendants and records that vary case by case, and a missed period is generally not curable. This page is general information about Texas and Travis County timing rules rather than legal advice about any claim, and a specific date question belongs with the attorney advertising on this site.
Filing Deadlines in Texas Death Claims in Austin. Call (512) 729-9561 and a Austin lawyer reviews the claim and the deadline that applies. Nothing is signed on that call.
Call (512) 729-9561Local Rule 1.3 of the Travis County civil district courts has the District Clerk distribute filed cases equally on a rotating basis, while hearings and trials are assigned to available judges without regard to the court named in the case style.
Why it matters: The court number on a petition does not identify the judge who will hear a death case, so scheduling in Travis County works through the Court Administrator rather than a single court's coordinator.
Source: topics.txcourts.gov
Local Rule 13.3(a) automatically refers all cases set for trial on the jury docket or the non-jury long docket to pre-trial mediation, and Local Rule 8.1 makes cases on file over 18 months with no trial setting and no filings in 180 days eligible for dismissal for want of prosecution.
Why it matters: A Travis County death case is usually tested at mediation before trial, and a filed case can still be dismissed on the court's own motion if it sits idle.
Source: topics.txcourts.gov
The City of Austin reports 99 traffic fatalities and 301 serious injuries in 2025, with pedestrian deaths falling from 39 to 30, and estimates that roughly 65 to 75 percent of Austin traffic fatalities occur on state-owned roads.
Why it matters: Road ownership decides which entity is a potential defendant and which notice deadline applies, and the city's 45-day charter claim period is far shorter than the six-month statutory default.
Sources: austintexas.gov · austintexas.gov
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