For more than two decades, I have worked with victims and survivors navigating systems that were supposedly created to help them. I have testified before legislatures, spoken with the media, worked alongside victim-service professionals, and advocated for laws that recognize the realities of trauma.
Throughout that work, one problem appears over and over again: survivors often cannot determine whether they still have time to pursue civil justice.
Every state creates its own civil statutes of limitations. Those laws use different deadlines, definitions, exceptions, discovery rules, revival windows, and procedural requirements. A claim that remains viable in one state may have expired years ago in another. A survivor may have more time based on age, the type of abuse, the identity of the perpetrator, the involvement of an institution, or a recent change in state law.
Even experienced advocates struggle to follow this shifting legal landscape. We cannot reasonably expect survivors especially survivors processing trauma to decipher it alone.
That is why Andreozzi + Foote developed a free, anonymous online Civil Statute of Limitations Calculator.
The calculator allows survivors to enter three basic facts:
- Their date of birth
- Date of the last incident
- The state where the incident occurred
The tool then provides preliminary information about whether a potential civil claim related to sexual abuse, assault, harassment, trafficking, or other sexual misconduct may still fall within the applicable filing period.
The calculator does not ask for, or even permit users to enter, a name, address, telephone number, email address, or other contact information. It does not track or retarget users. Nor does it create a way for Andreozzi + Foote to contact them.
It provides information. It creates no obligation.
Now, we are asking victim-service organizations, rape crisis centers, child advocacy centers, campuses, healthcare providers, anti-trafficking organizations, government agencies, and other survivor-serving institutions to place this free resource on their websites and in their printed materials.
Statutes of Limitations Should Not Require Survivors to Become Lawyers
A statute of limitations establishes the deadline for filing a legal claim. If a survivor files after the applicable deadline expires, a court may dismiss the case without ever considering the underlying evidence.
Understanding that concept sounds simple. Applying it is anything but simple.
A survivor may need to answer questions such as:
- Which state’s law applies?
- Does the deadline depend on where the abuse occurred or where the survivor lives now?
- Was the survivor a child or an adult at the time?
- How does the state define childhood sexual abuse?
- Does the law cover sexual exploitation or covert recording?
- Are there different deadlines apply to trafficking?
- Can the survivor have a claim against the perpetrator?
- Does the survivor have a separate claim against an institution?
- Did the perpetrator hold a position of trust or authority?
- Are there discovery rules that apply?
- When did the survivor discover the connection between the abuse and an injury?
- Did the state recently extend its deadline?
- Have lawmakers eliminated the statute of limitations prospectively?
- What about a temporary revival window for expired claims?
- Any special deadlines apply to a government institution?
- Must the survivor provide notice before filing a lawsuit?
- Must I have a pending criminal case to pause the civil deadline?
The answer to any one of these questions can determine whether a survivor can enter a courtroom.
This is not a realistic burden to place on someone who may already be managing post-traumatic stress, depression, addiction, family conflict, financial instability, fear of retaliation, or decades of silence.
Civil SOL’s Are All Over the Map
The United States does not have a uniform civil statute of limitations for sexual abuse claims. Each state creates and repeatedly amends its own laws.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, state laws may calculate a survivor’s deadline based on age, the date of the abuse, discovery of an injury, a criminal conviction, or a combination of those factors.
The differences are substantial.
Some states have eliminated the civil statute of limitations for certain childhood sexual abuse claims. Others give survivors until a specific age. Some use a fixed number of years after the survivor turns 18. Others provide an alternative deadline tied to when the survivor discovered that the abuse caused a psychological injury.
Several states have opened temporary revival or “lookback” windows that allow survivors to file claims that previously expired. Those windows may remain open for only one, two, or three years. Some apply to claims against perpetrators and institutions. Others limit which defendants can be sued.
Even reforms that appear similar may operate differently.
For example:
- California generally eliminated the civil filing deadline for childhood sexual assault occurring on or after January 1, 2024, while older abuse remains subject to different rules.
- Georgia generally requires many survivors to file by age 23, with a limited discovery provision for qualifying claims involving abuse occurring on or after July 1, 2015.
- Pennsylvania’s deadline depends heavily on when the abuse occurred because later legislative extensions did not automatically revive claims that had already expired.
- Rhode Island just opened up a window from July 1, 2026, gives eligible survivors until June 30, 2028
Those examples represent only a fraction of the differences across the country.
A national list can tell a survivor that a state has a particular statute. It may not tell that person whether the statute applies to their specific dates and circumstances.
The Law Can Change While a Survivor Is Deciding What to Do
Statute of limitations laws do not remain static.
Legislatures extend deadlines. Courts interpret discovery rules. States enact revival windows. Appellate courts decide whether those windows are constitutional. New laws distinguish between claims against perpetrators and claims against institutions.
A survivor who received accurate information several years ago may receive a different answer today.
This creates an especially dangerous problem for survivors who were previously told that their claims had expired. Many never check again. They reasonably assume that a closed legal door will remain closed.
However, a legislative reform or court decision may create a new opportunity for civil justice.
Temporary windows make current information even more important. A survivor may qualify to file during a revival period but lose that opportunity if no one alerts them before the window closes.
Victim-service organizations need an accessible way to help survivors identify when they may need updated legal information.
Trauma Does Not Follow a Legislative Calendar
I have repeatedly explained in media interviews and testimony before the Pennsylvania Senate that survivors need a calculator and a calendar to understand whether civil justice remains available.
Legislatures write deadlines as dates on a page. Survivors experience those deadlines as a race against trauma.
Many survivors of childhood sexual abuse do not disclose until decades after the abuse. They may spend years minimizing what happened, blaming themselves, protecting family members, fearing institutional retaliation, or struggling to understand how the abuse affected their lives.
Some survivors do not connect the abuse to later depression, addiction, anxiety, relationship difficulties, self-harm, or post-traumatic stress until well into adulthood.
That delay is not evidence of indifference. It is often evidence of trauma.
When I served as Pennsylvania’s Victim Advocate, I called for the abolition of time limits that prevent survivors from seeking justice. As I stated during Pennsylvania’s reform debate, “To reach the pinnacle of reform, we must abolish all time limitations on victims.”
Until every survivor has meaningful and permanent access to civil justice, we must at least give people the tools to understand the laws that currently exist.
A Calendar Alone Cannot Solve This Problem
Traditional resources often present statutes of limitations through charts, maps, or lengthy statutory summaries. Those resources play an important role in policy analysis and legal research.
However, they can still leave a survivor asking: “What does this mean for me?”
A chart may say that a state allows claims until a certain age. The survivor may not know:
- Whether the law applies retroactively
- Which version of the law controls
- If the alleged conduct falls within a statutory definition
- Does the deadline differ for institutional claims
- Do discovery provision applies
- Is there a current revival window affects an expired claim
- Would another claim carries a different deadline
The calculator begins with the facts most likely to affect that preliminary analysis: the survivor’s birthdate, the last incident date, and the state where the conduct occurred.
It turns a national legal patchwork into a more accessible starting point.
How the Free Civil Statute of Limitations Calculator Works
The calculator asks users to provide only three pieces of information:
1. Date of birth
A survivor’s age can determine when a filing period began, whether minority tolling applies, and whether a claim must be brought by a particular birthday.
2. Date of the last incident
State laws often distinguish between claims based on when the abuse occurred. The same state may apply one deadline to conduct before a reform date and another deadline to more recent conduct.
3. State where the incident occurred
Civil statutes of limitations vary by jurisdiction. The state where the conduct occurred often provides the starting point for determining which law may apply.
After receiving this limited information, the calculator provides preliminary guidance about whether a potential civil claim may still be timely.
The process takes only minutes.
The SOL Calculator Is Anonymous by Design
Privacy is not an optional feature for survivors. It is essential.
Many survivors want information before they are ready to speak with an advocate, attorney, family member, or law-enforcement officer. They may fear being identified, contacted, pressured, or placed on a marketing list.
The calculator respects that reality.
Users do not and cannot enter:
- Name
- Home address
- telephone number
- Email address
- Alleged perpetrator’s name
- Institution’s name
- A narrative describing the abuse
- Any other contact information
The calculator does not use the information to contact individual users. It does not track or retarget them. It does not require anyone to contact Andreozzi + Foote.
A survivor can use the tool privately, receive preliminary information, and decide what if anything, to do next.
That is what survivor-centered access should look like.
The Tool Does Not Provide Legal Advice
The calculator provides general, preliminary information. It does not provide legal advice and does not replace an individualized consultation with a qualified attorney.
Statutes of limitations can depend on facts that a brief online tool cannot fully evaluate. Choice-of-law questions, tolling doctrines, institutional notice requirements, disability, delayed discovery, amended statutes, and disputed dates may change the analysis.
A result indicating that a claim may be untimely does not necessarily eliminate every legal option. A result indicating that a claim may be timely does not guarantee that a court will accept the claim or that the case will succeed.
The tool gives survivors a starting point not a legal opinion.
Sharing the SOL Calculator Does Not Create a Referral
Victim-service agencies must protect their independence and avoid appearing to recommend a particular lawyer or law firm.
Sharing this calculator does not create a referral relationship. It does not constitute an endorsement of Andreozzi + Foote or any attorney. It does not create an attorney-client relationship between the user and Andreozzi + Foote.
The agency does not need to collect information, screen legal claims, transmit a user’s data, or make a warm referral.
Organizations can describe the calculator as an independent informational resource and clearly state:
This online tool provides general information about civil filing deadlines. It does not provide legal advice, create an attorney-client relationship, or replace consultation with a qualified attorney. This organization does not endorse or refer users to any particular attorney or law firm.
The calculator also does not generate a referral to Andreozzi + Foote. Users remain free to contact any attorney or no attorney at all.
Why Victim Advocates Need An SOL Calculator
Victim advocates routinely answer questions about protection orders, criminal proceedings, compensation, housing, counseling, safety planning, and available community services.
Many advocates do not provide civil legal representation. They should not have to interpret statutes of limitations or determine whether a survivor has a viable lawsuit.
At the same time, civil justice can offer forms of accountability and relief that the criminal system cannot.
A civil case may allow a survivor to:
- Hold a perpetrator accountable
- Investigate an institution’s role
- Obtain records and evidence
- Expose patterns of abuse
- Require testimony under oath
- Seek compensation for therapy and other losses
- Force changes in institutional policy
- Regain a sense of agency
- Protect other potential victims
Providing access to general information about civil deadlines does not transform an advocate into a lawyer. It helps the advocate avoid guessing while ensuring that the survivor receives potentially important information.
Which Organizations Should Share the SOL Calculator?
Any organization serving people affected by sexual abuse, assault, harassment, or trafficking can make this tool available.
That includes:
- Rape crisis centers
- Domestic violence organizations
- Child advocacy centers
- Victim-witness programs
- State and local victim-service agencies
- Coalitions against sexual and domestic violence
- Anti-trafficking organizations
- Campus Title IX offices
- College counseling centers
- School districts
- Children and youth agencies
- Foster care and adoption organizations
- Hospitals and healthcare systems
- Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner programs
- Mental health providers
- Substance use treatment programs
- Disability advocacy organizations
- Aging and adult-protective-service organizations
- Tribal victim-service programs
- LGBTQ+ community organizations
- Religious institutions and survivor ministries
- Bar associations and legal aid programs
- Law-enforcement victim-services units
- Prosecutors’ victim-witness offices
- State attorneys general
- Departments of human services
- Correctional victim-services programs
- National survivor advocacy organizations
The tool can appear on a legal-resources page, survivor-resources page, reporting-options page, Title IX page, healing-resources page, or victim-compensation page.
Organizations can also add a QR code to brochures, resource cards, training materials, waiting rooms, conference displays, and outreach materials.
Why Agencies Should Add the Tool Even If They Do Not Provide Civil Legal Services
An agency does not need to offer civil representation to acknowledge that civil justice may matter to survivors.
Victim-service organizations regularly share resources outside their direct scope. They provide information about housing, compensation, counseling, immigration, medical care, and criminal justice even when they do not personally deliver every service.
Civil legal information deserves the same treatment.
A survivor may have only one opportunity to file a claim before a deadline expires. An agency’s website may be the first and sometimes only place that survivor searches for help.
A simple link could prevent someone from missing a legal deadline they did not know existed.
This Tool Can Reduce Geographic Inequality
Survivors in urban areas may have access to specialized attorneys, large victim-service networks, and law-school clinics. Survivors in rural communities may have few local legal resources and limited anonymity.
People with disabilities, transportation barriers, caregiving responsibilities, or limited financial resources may also struggle to schedule a consultation.
The calculator is free and available online. Survivors can use it privately and at their own pace.
Although an online tool cannot eliminate every access barrier, it can reduce the role that geography, income, transportation, and organizational capacity play in obtaining basic information.
The SOL Calculator Can Help Survivors Who Experienced Abuse in Another State
Many people no longer live in the state where they experienced abuse.
A survivor may have:
- Moved after childhood
- Attended an out-of-state boarding school
- Experienced abuse during athletic travel
- Been trafficked across state lines
- Received treatment at an out-of-state facility
- Attended a religious or youth program in another jurisdiction
- Been assaulted while traveling for work or school
The survivor may search the law in their current state even though another state’s deadline may apply.
By asking where the incident occurred, the calculator helps focus the preliminary result on the relevant jurisdiction rather than merely the survivor’s present residence.
Complex cases involving multiple states still require individualized legal analysis.
Civil Justice Information Is Part of Trauma-Informed Care
Trauma-informed practice emphasizes safety, choice, transparency, collaboration, and empowerment.
The calculator advances each of those principles:
- Safety: Users do not provide identifying or contact information.
- Choice: Survivors decide whether, when, and how to use the result.
- Transparency: The tool explains that its information is preliminary and not legal advice.
- Collaboration: Agencies can offer the resource without taking over the survivor’s decision.
- Empowerment: Survivors receive information they can use to evaluate their options.
Trauma-informed advocacy does not mean deciding for survivors. It means giving them accurate, accessible tools so they can make informed choices.
A National Call to Survivor-Serving Organizations
We are asking survivor-serving organizations across the country to add the free Civil Statute of Limitations Calculator to their websites and printed materials.
There is no:
- Cost to the survivor
- Cost to the organization
- Identifying-information requirement
- Tracking or retargeting
- Follow-up from Andreozzi + Foote
- Obligation to contact a lawyer
- Endorsement requirement
- Referral relationship
- Attorney-client relationship created
Ready-to-use website language and QR-code materials are available for organizations that want to share the resource.
Agencies can link directly to the Civil Statute of Limitations Calculator.
Suggested Website Language for Agencies
Understanding Civil Legal Time Limits
Survivors of sexual abuse, assault, harassment, or trafficking may have questions about whether they still have time to pursue a civil legal claim. These deadlines known as statutes of limitations vary by state and may depend on age, when the conduct occurred, and other circumstances.
A free anonymous online calculator allows users to enter their date of birth, the date of the last incident, and the state where the incident occurred to receive preliminary information about whether a potential civil claim may still be timely.
The calculator does not request a name, address, telephone number, email address, or other contact information. Use of the tool does not result in follow-up or require the user to contact a lawyer.
This resource provides general information only. It does not constitute legal advice, create an attorney-client relationship, or replace consultation with a qualified attorney. Our organization does not endorse or refer users to any particular lawyer or law firm.
Access the free Civil Statute of Limitations Calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Civil Statute of Limitations Calculator
What is a civil statute of limitations?
A civil statute of limitations establishes the deadline for filing a lawsuit. The deadline may depend on the survivor’s age, when the conduct occurred, the state, the type of claim, and other factors.
Why do survivors need a calculator?
State laws vary dramatically and change frequently. A calculator can use basic dates and location information to provide a more useful starting point than a general national chart.
What information does the calculator request?
The calculator requests only the user’s date of birth, the date of the last incident, and the state where the incident occurred.
Does the calculator ask for a survivor’s name?
No. Users cannot enter a name, address, telephone number, email address, or other contact information.
Does Andreozzi + Foote receive the survivor’s contact information?
No. The calculator does not collect contact information and does not provide a mechanism for the firm to contact individual users.
Does the calculator track or retarget users?
No. The calculator does not track or retarget survivors for follow-up or marketing.
Is there a fee?
No. The calculator is free for survivors and for organizations that share it.
Does the result constitute legal advice?
No. The calculator provides preliminary, general information. It does not provide legal advice or replace an individualized consultation with a qualified attorney.
Does using the calculator create an attorney-client relationship?
No. Using the calculator does not create an attorney-client relationship with Andreozzi + Foote or any other attorney.
Does sharing the calculator create a referral relationship?
No. An organization that shares the calculator is not referring a survivor to Andreozzi + Foote and does not endorse any specific lawyer or law firm.
Must a user contact Andreozzi + Foote after receiving a result?
No. The calculator creates no obligation to contact Andreozzi + Foote or any attorney. Survivors remain free to choose their own next steps.
Can the calculator guarantee that a claim is timely?
No. Statute of limitations analyses can involve facts and legal issues beyond the information entered. The calculator provides preliminary guidance, not a guarantee.
Can a survivor use the calculator for abuse that happened in another state?
Yes. The calculator asks where the incident occurred. Cases involving conduct in multiple states may require individualized legal analysis.
Can victim-service agencies place the tool on their websites?
Yes. Agencies can link to the calculator, use approved website language, or include a QR code in printed materials without cost.
Giving Survivors a Calendar, a Calculator, and a Choice
The civil justice system cannot serve survivors if they cannot determine whether its doors remain open.
Our country has created a confusing, inconsistent, and constantly changing patchwork of deadlines. Survivors should not need a law degree to learn whether they may still have rights.
This calculator does not solve every problem created by statutes of limitations. It does not replace meaningful legal reform. It does not change the fact that trauma rarely follows a timetable.
But it gives survivors something they have too often been denied: clear preliminary information, offered privately, without pressure and without surrendering their identity.
There is no deadline on trauma. There should not be one on justice.
If you want to see a live demonstration off the SOL calculator or discuss how you can use this resource, please contact Victim Advocate Jennifer Storm at Jennifer@vca.law