Limitation periods: which time limits apply and how to stop them

What is limitation?

Limitation (Verjährung) means: once a statutory period has expired, you can no longer enforce a claim against the will of the debtor. A claim is the right to demand that another person do or refrain from doing something, for example pay, deliver or repair (Sec. 194 (1) BGB).

What limitation does not do is important. The claim continues to exist. The debtor merely gains the right to refuse performance (Sec. 214 (1) BGB). Lawyers call this a defence (Einrede): it only takes effect if the debtor raises it. If the debtor pays despite limitation, the creditor may keep the money.

The idea behind it: after a few years, both sides should have certainty, not least because receipts get lost and witnesses forget.

Limitation 2026: these claims become time-barred on 31 December

Because the regular period always begins at the end of a year, it also always ends on a 31 December. For 2026, this means: everything that arose in 2023 and that you already knew about in 2023 becomes time-barred at the end of 31 December 2026. That day is a Thursday.

Claim arose and known in the year	Period begins at the end of the year	Time-barred at the end of
2022	2022	31 December 2025
2023	2023	31 December 2026
2024	2024	31 December 2027
2025	2025	31 December 2028

Typical cases that expire at the end of 2026:

• unpaid invoices under contracts of sale, contracts for work or service contracts that fell due in 2023
• repayment of a private loan that was to be repaid in 2023
• wages, supplements or overtime from 2023, unless a shorter exclusion period applies (see below)
• damages from an event in 2023, if you knew of the damage and the person responsible in 2023
• compulsory share claims, if you learned in 2023 of the death and your disinheritance

If you only learned of your claim later, the start moves to the end of the year in which you knew or should have known. The maximum periods further below then set the limits.

Regular limitation period: 3 years from the end of the year

The 3 years always apply where the law does not provide otherwise (Sec. 195 BGB). That covers most of everyday life: purchase price, remuneration for work, rent, wages, loans, repayment claims and most claims for damages.

Two requirements must be met for the period to begin (Sec. 199 (1) BGB):

1. The claim has arisen. As a rule, this means that you can demand performance, i.e. the claim is due. If no time has been agreed, performance is due immediately (Sec. 271 (1) BGB).
2. You know the circumstances and the debtor or should have known them without gross negligence. Anyone who deliberately closes their eyes is treated as if they knew.

The period only starts at the end of that year. Whether the claim arises in January or in December therefore makes no difference to the end of the period.

When does an invoice become time-barred?

An invoice becomes time-barred under the same rule: 3 years from the end of the year in which the claim fell due.

Example: In October 2023, you sold your used e-bike to an acquaintance for €1,400 and handed it over, with payment agreed by 31 October 2023. He does not pay. The period begins at the end of 2023 and ends at the end of 31 December 2026. If you send him a second and third reminder in December 2026, this changes nothing: reminders do not suspend limitation. If he has not paid by then and you have not applied for a court order for payment or brought an action, he can rely on limitation from 1 January 2027.

Does the period only begin with the invoice?

In many cases, no. Whether an invoice is a requirement for the claim to fall due depends on the contract and the law. Under a construction contract, for example, the remuneration is only payable after acceptance and a verifiable final invoice (Sec. 650g (4) BGB), and a doctor's fee only after a proper invoice (Sec. 12 (1) GOÄ). Where no such rule applies, an invoice written late cannot postpone the start of limitation. Anyone who only issues invoices months later is therefore giving away time.

Table of limitation periods: the most important time limits

Many claims have their own periods. Pay particular attention to the "Start" column: only the regular period starts at the end of the year; the special periods usually run to the exact day (Sec. 187, 188, 200 BGB).

Claim	Period	Start	Provision
Standard case: purchase price, remuneration for work, wages, rent, loan, damages	3 years	End of the year in which the claim arose and you knew of it	Sec. 195, 199 (1) BGB
Defects when buying a movable item	2 years	Delivery of the item	Sec. 438 (1) no. 3, (2) BGB
Defects when buying a building or building materials that caused the defect in the building	5 years	Handover of the land, otherwise delivery	Sec. 438 (1) no. 2, (2) BGB
Defects that the seller fraudulently concealed	3 years from the end of the year and knowledge, for buildings not before 5 years	as in the standard case	Sec. 438 (3) BGB
Defects in work for the manufacture, maintenance or alteration of an item	2 years	Acceptance	Sec. 634a (1) no. 1, (2) BGB
Defects in work on a building	5 years	Acceptance	Sec. 634a (1) no. 2, (2) BGB
Defects in a package holiday	2 years	Day on which the holiday was to end under the contract	Sec. 651j BGB
Rights to land, such as transfer of ownership or cancellation of a land charge, and the counter-performance	10 years	Claim arises	Sec. 196, 200 BGB
Claims established by final judgment, enforceable settlements and instruments	30 years	Judgment becoming final or creation of the enforcement title	Sec. 197 (1) nos. 3 and 4, 201 BGB
Damages for intentional injury to life, body, health, liberty or sexual self-determination	30 years	Claim arises	Sec. 197 (1) no. 1, 200 BGB
Return based on ownership, such as the claim to have an item handed back	30 years	Claim arises	Sec. 197 (1) no. 2, 200 BGB
Landlord's claims for compensation for alterations to or deterioration of the flat	6 months	Landlord gets the rented property back	Sec. 548 (1) BGB
Tenant's reimbursement of expenses and right of removal	6 months	End of the tenancy	Sec. 548 (2) BGB
Compulsory share	3 years, at most 30 years	End of the year of knowledge of the death and the disinheritance	Sec. 195, 199 (1) and (3a) BGB

Three notes on the table:

• Judgment or enforcement order: You can enforce an enforcement title for 30 years. However, this does not apply to recurring payments that fall due in the future, such as ongoing interest or maintenance; for these, it remains 3 years (Sec. 197 (2) BGB).
• Purchase from a trader: If you are a consumer and a defect appears shortly before the 2 years expire, the claim does not become time-barred until 4 months after the defect appeared (Sec. 475e (3) BGB). If you handed in the goods for repair, the period expires no earlier than 2 months after they are returned to you (Sec. 475e (4) BGB). For purchases from 31 July 2026, a repair also extends the original period once by 12 months (Sec. 475e (5) BGB).
• Contract for work: When acceptance has taken place and which period applies to software, expert reports or plans is explained in our guide to the contract for work.

Maximum periods: when do 10 and 30 years apply?

Because the regular period only starts once you know, an undiscovered claim could in theory remain open forever. The maximum periods in Sec. 199 (2) to (4) BGB prevent this. They run regardless of whether you knew anything.

Claim	Maximum period	Provision
Damages for injury to life, body, health or liberty	30 years from the act, breach of duty or event causing the damage	Sec. 199 (2) BGB
Other damages, for example for incorrect advice	10 years from when the claim arose or 30 years from the event causing the damage, whichever ends earlier	Sec. 199 (3) BGB
Claims based on a death or whose assertion requires knowledge of a will or contract of inheritance	30 years from when the claim arose	Sec. 199 (3a) BGB
All other claims	10 years from when the claim arose	Sec. 199 (4) BGB

If the claim is for an omission, the infringement counts instead of the date on which the claim arose (Sec. 199 (5) BGB). The maximum periods do not run until the end of the year, but to the exact day (Sec. 187, 188 BGB).

Incidentally, some overviews give a flat 30 years for "family law and inheritance law claims". That does not reflect the current law: in inheritance law, Sec. 197 (1) no. 2 BGB now only covers certain claims for return, for example against the possessor of the inheritance (Sec. 2018 BGB). Since 1 January 2010, the other inheritance law claims are generally subject to the 3 years with the 30-year maximum period (Art. 229 Sec. 23 EGBGB).

Suspension of limitation: what stops the clock

Suspension means: the period stands still as long as the ground for suspension exists. That time is not counted (Sec. 209 BGB). After that, the rest of the period continues to run.

Measure	Suspends from	Suspension ends	Provision
Action for performance or for a declaratory judgment	Bringing the action; with service "promptly" (demnächst), already from receipt by the court	6 months after a final decision or other conclusion	Sec. 204 (1) no. 1, (2) BGB; Sec. 167 ZPO
Court order for payment in court payment order proceedings	Service; with service "promptly", already from receipt of the application	as for an action; if the proceedings are at a standstill, 6 months after the last procedural step	Sec. 204 (1) no. 3, (2) BGB; Sec. 167 ZPO
Application to a state or state-recognised conciliation body	Arranging for notification, with prompt notification already from receipt	6 months after the end of the proceedings	Sec. 204 (1) no. 4, (2) BGB
First application for legal aid	Arranging for notification, with prompt notification already from submission	6 months after the end of the proceedings	Sec. 204 (1) no. 14, (2) BGB
Independent evidentiary proceedings, for example an expert report on construction defects	Service of the application	6 months after the end of the proceedings	Sec. 204 (1) no. 7, (2) BGB
Filing the claim in insolvency proceedings	Filing	6 months after the end of the proceedings	Sec. 204 (1) no. 10, (2) BGB
Negotiations about the claim	Start of the negotiations	when one side refuses to continue; limitation at the earliest 3 months later	Sec. 203 BGB
Agreement that the debtor does not have to pay for the time being (standstill agreement)	Agreement	End of the agreement	Sec. 205 BGB
Force majeure in the last 6 months of the period	Obstruction	Obstruction ceases	Sec. 206 BGB
Claims between spouses, registered civil partners and between child and parents	Existence of the marriage or civil partnership	End of the marriage, for the child on reaching the age of 21	Sec. 207 BGB

Three points are decisive in practice:

• A reminder is not enough. Neither a payment reminder nor a registered letter nor a letter from a debt collection agency is listed in Sec. 204 BGB. Only court steps and steps treated as equivalent suspend limitation.
• Retroactive effect under Sec. 167 ZPO. If your application for a court order for payment reaches the court responsible for payment orders (Mahngericht) on 30 December 2026 and the order is served in January 2027, the suspension takes effect retroactively from receipt, provided service takes place "promptly". Errors in the application, a wrong address or an unpaid advance on costs can cost you this retroactive effect.
• Document negotiations. Whether serious negotiations took place is often disputed. Keep a record of conversations and emails. A written agreement on limitation is safer (see below).

A special rule applies to an estate: claims that belong to an estate or are directed against it do not become time-barred, among other things, before 6 months have passed after the heir accepted the inheritance (Sec. 211 BGB).

Recommencement: when the period starts again

With recommencement, limitation starts again for the full length. The law knows two cases (Sec. 212 (1) BGB):

1. The debtor acknowledges the claim to the creditor, by a part payment, payment of interest, provision of security or in another way, for example by asking to pay in instalments.
2. A court or official enforcement measure is carried out or applied for. If it is set aside again or the application is withdrawn, the recommencement is deemed not to have occurred (Sec. 212 (2) and (3) BGB).

Example: Your friend was supposed to repay you a loan of €2,000 in June 2023. On 10 March 2025, she transfers €100 with the reference "first instalment". She thereby acknowledges the debt. The 3 years start again, from the payment and not only from the end of the year. Without the instalment, the claim would have become time-barred at the end of 31 December 2026.

	Suspension	Recommencement
What happens	Period stands still, then the rest continues to run	Period starts again for the full length
Typical triggers	Court order for payment, action, conciliation, negotiations	Acknowledgement, part payment, payment of interest, application for enforcement
Who acts	usually the creditor	Acknowledgement: the debtor; enforcement: the creditor
Provision	Sec. 203 to 211 BGB	Sec. 212 BGB

Preventing limitation: what you can do before 31 December

If, as a creditor, you are running out of time, it is best to proceed in this order:

1. Determine the period. Which claim, under which contract, when was it due, when did you know about it? Does the regular period apply or a special period from the table?
2. Gather documents: contract, invoice, delivery note, messages, bank statements.
3. Aim for an acknowledgement or an agreement. If the debtor pays an instalment or confirms the debt, the period starts again. Alternatively, you can agree in writing that limitation is suspended until a certain date or that the debtor will not rely on it until then. The limits for this are set out in Sec. 202 BGB.
4. Apply for a court order for payment. This can be done via the portal of the payment order courts, online-mahnantrag.de. The court does not check whether you are entitled to the claim (Sec. 692 (1) no. 2 ZPO). Allow a few days' buffer so that queries from the court do not jeopardise the retroactive effect.
5. Bring an action if the debtor disputes the claim and court payment order proceedings would end up in a lawsuit anyway.
6. Do not let the proceedings go to sleep. If the debtor lodges an objection and you do not pursue the proceedings, the suspension ends 6 months after the last procedural step (Sec. 204 (2) BGB).

Checklist: stopping limitation before the end of the year

• Year of origin and year of knowledge noted for every outstanding claim
• Special periods checked (defects, end of tenancy, holiday, land)
• Application for a court order for payment or action prepared by mid-December at the latest, debtor's address up to date
• End of the period in the calendar, including the 6 months after the end of proceedings

Claim time-barred? What applies to debtors

If you receive an invoice, a reminder or a letter from a debt collection agency about an old claim, check the year in which it arose first. If the period has expired, the following applies:

• You must rely on limitation. Inform the creditor in writing that you are raising the defence of limitation and are therefore not paying. Identify the claim precisely (invoice, date, amount). Nothing more is needed in terms of content; the law does not prescribe any particular form.
• No part payment, no request for instalments. If you pay an instalment before the period expires, it starts again (Sec. 212 BGB). Even after it has expired, caution is required: you cannot reclaim a contractual acknowledgement or a security that you give for the time-barred claim (Sec. 214 (2) sentence 2 BGB).
• Do not ignore a court order for payment. The court responsible for payment orders does not check limitation. If you do not object within 2 weeks of service (Sec. 692 (1) no. 3 ZPO), an enforcement order (Vollstreckungsbescheid) may be issued, which has the effect of a default judgment (Sec. 700 (1) ZPO). An objection is possible as long as the enforcement order has not yet been issued (Sec. 694 (1) ZPO).
• Paid is paid. You cannot reclaim what you paid on a time-barred claim, even if you did not know about the limitation (Sec. 214 (2) BGB).
• Interest becomes time-barred too. Together with the main claim, the ancillary payments dependent on it, such as interest, also become time-barred (Sec. 217 BGB).

Two exceptions soften limitation for the creditor: they may still set off a time-barred claim if it was not yet time-barred at the time when it could first have been set off (Sec. 215 BGB). And anyone who holds a mortgage, a lien or security ownership can still obtain satisfaction from it despite limitation (Sec. 216 BGB).

Limitation, exclusion period, forfeiture: the difference

Not every time limit is a limitation period. The differences are decisive for you, because the rules on suspension only apply to limitation.

Feature	Limitation	Exclusion period	Forfeiture
Effect	Debtor may refuse performance	Right ceases to exist	Right can no longer be asserted
Does anyone have to rely on it?	yes, defence	no	no
Basis	Sec. 194 et seq. BGB and special statutes	Statute, employment contract or collective agreement	Good faith (Sec. 242 BGB)
Examples	3 years for an invoice	Additional service charge claim after 12 months (Sec. 556 (3) BGB), forfeiture clause in the employment contract, unfair dismissal claim within 3 weeks (Sec. 4 KSchG)	long inaction on which the other side was entitled to rely

The 3-week deadline for an unfair dismissal claim is therefore not a limitation period, but a deadline for bringing an action. What applies there is explained in the guide to the deadline for an unfair dismissal claim.

Special rules in employment law, tenancy law and inheritance law

Employment law: exclusion periods often take precedence

Wages and supplements become time-barred after 3 years. However, many employment contracts and collective agreements contain exclusion periods (Ausschlussfristen) under which claims lapse after just a few months if you do not assert them in time. For the statutory minimum wage: agreements that restrict or exclude its assertion are invalid to that extent, and forfeiture is excluded (Sec. 3 MiLoG). How to secure untaken holiday when your employment ends is shown in the guide Untaken holiday on termination. For questions about wages and time limits, an employment lawyer can help you at a fixed price.

Tenancy law: 6 months after moving out

After moving out, time quickly gets short: the landlord's claims for compensation for damage to the flat become time-barred 6 months after the landlord gets the flat back (Sec. 548 (1) BGB). Conversely, the tenant has 6 months from the end of the tenancy for reimbursement of expenses and the removal of fixtures (Sec. 548 (2) BGB). Rent arrears, on the other hand, become time-barred within the regular period of 3 years. For the deposit, the start of limitation depends on when the claim to repayment falls due. The deadline for the service charge statement is not a limitation period, but an exclusion period; details in the guide to the deadline for the service charge statement. Individual cases are checked by a tenancy lawyer, at a fixed price.

Inheritance law: 3 years, but a maximum period of 30 years

The compulsory share becomes time-barred 3 years from the end of the year in which you learned of the death and of your disinheritance, at the latest 30 years after the death (Sec. 199 (3a) BGB). The claim against a recipient of a gift under Sec. 2329 BGB, by contrast, becomes time-barred from the death, regardless of your knowledge (Sec. 2332 (1) BGB). Details and a table of time limits are in the guide to the compulsory share. A co-heir's claim to dissolve the community of heirs never becomes time-barred (Sec. 2042 (2), 758 BGB).

Limitation in criminal law, for fines and taxes

In criminal law, for administrative offences and in tax law, the issue is not private claims, but how long the state may prosecute or assess. These periods follow their own rules.

Area	Period	Provision
Murder	no limitation	Sec. 78 (2) StGB
Criminal offences	30, 20, 10, 5 or 3 years depending on the maximum penalty	Sec. 78 (3) StGB
Administrative offences in general	6 months to 3 years depending on the maximum fine, starting when the act ends	Sec. 31 (2) and (3) OWiG
Road traffic offences under Sec. 24 (1) StVG, such as speeding	6 months, 2 years for certain breaches of vehicle construction regulations	Sec. 26 (3) sentences 1 and 2 StVG
Assessment of taxes	4 years, 5 for reckless tax understatement, 10 for tax evasion	Sec. 169 (2) AO
Payment of assessed taxes	5 years, 10 years in cases of tax evasion	Sec. 228 AO

When these periods begin and what interrupts them must be clarified in the individual case. For the civil law consequences of a criminal offence, such as compensation for pain and suffering, the BGB periods from the tables above apply.

Agreements on limitation

Limitation periods can be changed by contract, but not at will. In the case of liability for intent, limitation may not be eased in advance, and no period may be extended beyond 30 years from the statutory start (Sec. 202 (1) and (2) BGB). In standard terms and conditions, the period for defects in newly manufactured items and work may not fall below one year, and for buildings may not be shortened at all (Sec. 309 no. 8 (b) (ff) BGB). Towards consumers, traders may not go below 2 years for new goods and below one year for used goods, and only with a separate notice and a separate agreement (Sec. 476 (2) BGB).