After a fatal crash on I-95 in New Haven or a pileup on the Merritt Parkway during freezing rain, families usually get hit with hospital calls, funeral plans, and insurance paperwork all at once. The phrase "statute of limitations" comes from old laws that set a cutoff date for filing a case, so claims would be brought while evidence and witness memories were still fresh.

In Connecticut, for a wrongful death claim, that deadline is usually two years from the date of death under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-555. There is also a hard outside limit: the case generally cannot be filed more than five years from the act or omission that caused the death. That matters in delayed-death cases, like when someone survives a serious crash or fall for a time before passing away.

Practically, this clock can wreck a claim if the estate is not opened fast enough. In Connecticut, the lawsuit is usually brought by the estate's executor or administrator, not individual family members directly. Waiting on probate, assuming an insurer will "work it out," or losing key records from police, EMS, or a hospital system like Yale-New Haven can cost the family leverage - or the whole case.

Best move: gather records early, confirm who has authority to act for the estate, and track the deadline like it is non-negotiable. It usually is.