NEW HAMPSHIRE
CHILD SEX ABUSE SOLs
CURRENT CIVIL SOL
In New Hampshire, there is no SOL for incest and sexual assault of minors against any defendants, and the remaining claims have an SOL of age thirty.
CIVIL SOL SNAPSHOT
AGE CAP |
NONE for incest and sexual assault of minors AGE 30 for others |
DISCOVERY TOLLING |
NONE |
REVIVAL LAW |
NONE |
Liability Limitations: The State of New Hampshire has waived sovereign immunity for CSA claims.[i] Plaintiffs are barred from receiving punitive damages against the State, and all other damages to a single person arising from a single occurrence are limited to $475,000.[ii] Charitable immunity was abolished in 1939.[iii]
Other Tolling Theories/Causes of Action: New Hampshire recognizes that a defendant’s fraudulent concealment of a cause of action will toll an SOL until discovery, but the New Hampshire Supreme Court has declined to decide whether the doctrine applies to CSA cases.[iv]
Civil SOL History
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Age Cap |
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2002 |
Age 21 (age of majority, 18, plus 3 years).[v] |
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2005 |
Extended the SOL to age 25 (age of majority, 18, plus 7 years).[vi] |
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2008 |
Extended the SOL again to age 30 (age of majority, 18, plus 12 years).[vii] |
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2020 |
Eliminated the SOL for incest and sexual assault of minors and adults.[viii] The new law also removes notification requirements for actions against the government. [ix] |
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Revival Law |
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|
N/A |
No window or other SOL revival law. |
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Discovery |
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Common Law |
In 1994, New Hampshire applied its common law discovery rule to claims of CSA[x] and the SOL is tolled until “the plaintiff discovers, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence, should have discovered both the fact of [her] injury and the cause thereof.”[xi] Claims arising prior to 1986 benefit from a 6-year common law discovery rule previously in effect.[xii] |
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Statutory |
New Hampshire codified its common law discovery rule in 1986 with a general 3-year discovery statute for personal injury actions[xiii] that applies to claims for abuse that occurred after the statute went into effect.[xiv] In 2005, New Hampshire recodified its 3-year discovery rule with a specialized CSA statute.[xv] Pursuant to the statute, the discovery rule applies to a claim if “the injury and its causal relationship to the act or omission” were not reasonably discovered until later.[xvi] The common law and statutory discovery rules are applicable to claims against all types of defendants.[xvii] In 2020, New Hampshire did away with its statutory discovery rule when it removed its civil SOL.[xviii] |
[i] N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 541-B:19(I)(d). See Petition of New Hampshire Div. for Children, Youth and Families, 244 A.3d 260 (N.H. 2020) (noting in analysis of CSA case that section 541-B waives sovereign immunity for certain tort claims against state agencies).
[ii] N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 541-B:14.
[iii] Wheeler v. Monadnock Comty. Hosp., 171 A.2d 23 (N.H. 1961) (concluding, “[i]n this jurisdiction it is established doctrine that hospitals and charitable institutions enjoy no immunity from liability for negligence.”); Welch v. Frisbie Memorial Hosp., 9 A.2d 761 (N.H. 1939).
[iv] McCollum v. D’Arcy, 638 A.2d 797, 798 (N.H. 1994) (noting, “[t]he trial court also ruled that the fraudulent concealment doctrine articulated by this court in Lakeman v. LaFrance, 156 A.2d 123 (N.H. 1959), provides additional common law precedent for tolling the SOLs in the case at bar,” and finding the discovery rule to be applicable and declining to discuss whether fraudulent concealment applies to CSA cases and to address the trial court’s ruling that the fraudulent concealment doctrine applied); Lakeman, supra note 590, at 126 (“fraudulent concealment of a cause of action from the one in whom it resides by the one against whom it lies constitutes an implied exception to the SOLs, postponing the commencement of the running of the statute until discovery or reasonable opportunity of discovery of the facts by the owner of the cause of action.”).
[v] N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4-g (2002) (right to civil action).
[vi] N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4-g (2005) (right to civil action).
[vii] N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4-g (2008) (right to civil action).
[viii] N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4-g (2020) (right to civil action).
[ix] N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann § 507-B:7(II) (2020) (no SOL).
[x] See McCollum, supra note 590, at 799 (recognizing, in repressed memory of abuse case, that the court has “never addressed the issue of applying the common law discovery rule to a civil sexual assault case, but find no reason why it should not apply.”).
[xi] Durant v. Durant, No. CIV. 94-007-JD, 1994 WL 312913, at *1 (D. N.H. June 27, 1994) (quoting Heath v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 464 A.2d 288, 294 (N.H. 1983)).
[xii] Conrad v. Hazen, 665 A.2d 372, 375 (N.H. 1995).
[xiii] N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4 (1986) (stating that, for personal injury actions, “when the injury and its causal relationship to the act or omission were not discovered and could not reasonably have been discovered at the time of the act or omission, the action shall be commenced within 3 years of the time the plaintiff discovers, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury and its causal relationship to the act or omission complained of.”). See Dobe v. Comm’r, New Hampshire Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., 791 A.2d 184, 187 (N.H. 2002).
[xiv] Taylor v. Litteer, 925 F. Supp. 898, 902 (D. N.H. 1996) (concluding that discovery rule applicability is determined by the seriousness of the original injury and whether it was ‘“sufficiently serious to apprise the plaintiff that a possible violation of [her] rights had taken place”’) (citing Conrad v. Hazen, 665 A.2d 372, 375 (N.H. 1995) (quoting Rowe v. John Deere, 533 A.2d 375, 377 (N.H. 1987))). But see Sinclair v. Brill, 857 F.Supp. 132 (D. N.H. 1994) (allowing discovery rule to toll SOL where victim knew of abuse and injury “but did not discover the causal relationship” until later).
[xv] N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4-g (2005) (stipulating “[t]hree years of the time the plaintiff discovers, or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury and its causal relationship to the act or omission complained of”).
[xvi] Id.
[xvii] Taylor, supra note 600, at 902 (applying discovery rule as against the defendant church); Patrisso v. Sch. Admin. Unit No. 59, No. 08-CV-482-PB, 2010 WL 56023, at *2 (D. N.H. Jan. 5, 2010) (applying the discovery rule as against the defendant school district); Petition of New Hampshire Div. for Child., Youth & Fams., 244 A.3d 260, 261 (N.H. 2020) (applying the discovery rule against the state under N.H. Rev. Stat. section 541-B:14).
[xviii] N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4-g (2020).
CURRENT NEW HAMPSHIRE CIVIL LAW
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4-g - Actions Based on Sexual Assault and Related Offenses.
A person, alleging to have been subjected to any offense under RSA 632-A or an offense under RSA 639:2 may commence a personal action at any time.
Case law
Conrad v. Hazen, 140 N.H. 249, 252 (1995). The New Hampshire Supreme Court held that when the legislature amended § 508:4—the general tort statute of limitations—to reduce the limitations period from six to three years, the change was prospective and left intact the six-year statute of limitations (including the accrual discovery rule) for causes of action arising prior to July 1, 1986.
CURRENT CRIMINAL SOL
In New Hampshire, the criminal SOL is age forty for sexual assault and incest, age thirty-eight for trafficking offenses, age twenty-four for other felonies, and age nineteen for misdemeanors.
CRIMINAL SOL SNAPSHOT
FELONY SEX ASSAULT |
Age 40 | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 625:8(III)(d) |
INCEST |
Age 40 | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 625:8(III)(d) |
TRAFFICKING OFFENSES |
Age 38 | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 625:8(III)(i) |
OTHER FELONIES |
Age 24 | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 625:8(I)(a)-(b) |
MISDEMEANORS |
Age 19 | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 625:8(I)(c) |
Tolling: The SOL is tolled while the defendant is continuously absent from the State or is already facing prosecution for the same conduct.[i]
Criminal SOL History
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Age Cap |
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1990 |
Set the SOL for felony sex abuse at age 40 (age of majority, 18, plus 22 years). The SOL for all other felony crimes was age 24 and age 19 for all misdemeanors.[ii] |
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2000 |
Incest was added to the list of felonies with an SOL of age 40.[iii] |
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2014 |
Extended the SOL for trafficking to age 38 (age of majority, 18, plus 20 years).[iv] |
[ii] N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 625:8 (1990) (SOL).
[iii] N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 625:8 (2000) (SOL).
[iv] N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 625:8(III)(i) (2014).
CURRENT NEW HAMPSHIRE CRIMINAL LAW
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 625:8 - Limitations
I. Except as otherwise provided in this section, prosecutions are subject to the following periods of limitations:
(a) For a class A felony, 6 years;
(b) For a class B felony, 6 years;
(c) For a misdemeanor, one year;
(d) For a violation, 3 months.
(e) For an offense defined by RSA 282-A, 6 years.
(f) For an offense defined in RSA 638:1, III-a, 2 years.
II. Murder may be prosecuted at any time.
II-a. [Repealed.]
III. If the period prescribed in paragraph I has expired, a prosecution may nevertheless be commenced:
(a) Within one year after its discovery by an aggrieved party or by a person who has a duty to represent such person and who is himself not a party to the offense for a theft where possession of the property was lawfully obtained and subsequently misappropriated or for any offense, a material element of which is either fraud or a breach of fiduciary duty.
(b) For any offense based upon misconduct in office by a public servant, at any time when the defendant is in public office or within 2 years thereafter.
(c) For any offense under RSA 208, RSA 210, or RSA 215, within 3 years thereafter.
(d) For any offense under RSA 632-A or for an offense under RSA 639:2, where the victim was under 18 years of age when the alleged offense occurred, within 22 years of the victim’s eighteenth birthday.
(e) For any offense where destruction or falsification of evidence, witness tampering, or other unlawful conduct delayed discovery of the offense, within one year of the discovery of the offense.
(f) For any offense under RSA 153:24 and RSA 153:5, the state fire code, within one year of its discovery.
(g) For any offense under RSA 641:1 through 641:7, if committed with the purpose to assist in a murder, to conceal a murder, or to conceal or hinder the investigation or apprehension of an individual responsible for murder, at any time.
(h) For any violation-level offense involving a motor vehicle accident resulting in death or serious bodily injury, within 6 months of the accident.
(i) For any offense under RSA 633:7, within 20 years, except where the victim was under 18 years of age when the alleged offense occurred, in which case within 20 years of the victim’s eighteenth birthday.
IV. Time begins to run on the day after all elements of an offense have occurred or, in the case of an offense comprised of a continuous course of conduct, on the day after that conduct or the defendant’s complicity therein terminates.
V. A prosecution is commenced on the day when a warrant or other process is issued, an indictment returned, or an information is filed, whichever is the earliest.
VI. The period of limitations does not run:
(a) During any time when the accused is continuously absent from the state or has no reasonably ascertained place of abode or work within this state; or
(b) During any time when a prosecution is pending against the accused in this state based on the same conduct.
Case Law
The information provided is solely for informational purposes and is not legal advice. To determine the New Hampshire SOL in a particular case, contact a lawyer in the state.
Last Updated: April 21, 2021
