# Defamation · New Hampshire — Civil statute of limitations by state and type of claim

For Defamation · New Hampshire, limitation period is 3 years; when the clock starts is within 3 years of the time the cause of action accrued; section is 508:4; how the statute describes it is Personal actions for slander or libel, unless otherwise provided by law, may be brought only within 3 years of the time the cause of action accrued, verified against its source on 2026-08-25.

- **Type of claim:** Defamation _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **State:** New Hampshire _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Limitation period:** 3 years _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **How the statute describes it:** Personal actions for slander or libel, unless otherwise provided by law, may be brought only within 3 years of the time the cause of action accrued _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **When the clock starts:** within 3 years of the time the cause of action accrued _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Section:** 508:4 _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> 508:4 Personal Actions. – I. Except as otherwise provided by law, all personal actions, except actions for slander or libel, may be brought only within 3 years of the act or omission complained of, except that 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. II. Personal actions for slander or libel, unless otherwise provided by law, may be brought only within 3 years of the time the cause of action accrued.

## Source

- https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/LII/508/508-mrg.htm

Last verified: 2026-08-25. Review by: 2027-08-25.
Part of [Civil statute of limitations by state and type of claim](https://referencesource.org/state-civil-statute-of-limitations/).