South Carolina Is Weighing Two Bills That Would Rewrite Its Abuse Deadlines

Reviewed by Survivor Rights Center · Updated 2026-07-24

Where South Carolina Law Stands Today

Under current South Carolina law, someone who was sexually abused generally has until age 21, or three years after discovering the connection between the abuse and their injury, to file a civil lawsuit. Compared to the deadlines many other states have adopted in recent years, that is a relatively short window, and it is one reason two separate bills are now moving through the Statehouse.

Neither bill has passed. Both remain in committee, which means South Carolina's current, shorter deadlines are still the law survivors and their attorneys have to work with today.

S.148: A Longer Deadline and a Revival Window

Senate Bill 148 would extend the filing deadline for sexual assault, sexual abuse, and incest claims to age 59, or eight years from the date a survivor discovers the injury, whichever comes later. That is a substantial jump from the current age-21-or-three-years standard.

The bill would also eliminate parental immunity as a defense in these cases, meaning a parent could not automatically avoid liability simply because of the parent-child relationship. Notably, it includes a one-year window allowing people whose claims are already time-barred under the current law to refile once the bill takes effect.

H.5203: Closing a Bankruptcy Loophole

House Bill 5203, introduced in February 2026, addresses a narrower but important scenario: what happens when the institution a survivor wants to sue has filed for bankruptcy. Ordinary statutes of limitations can effectively cut off a survivor's ability to file a claim against a bankruptcy estate even faster than they would in a standard lawsuit, because bankruptcy proceedings run on their own deadlines.

The bill would let survivors bring a childhood sexual abuse claim against a bankruptcy estate at any time after the claim accrues, without the usual three or six-year limits applying. It also defines childhood sexual abuse by reference to specific state criminal offenses against minors, and specifies that a criminal conviction is not required to support a civil claim.

What Comes Next

Both bills are sitting in their respective Judiciary Committees as of this writing, with no floor vote scheduled. Neither has been signed into law. If either one passes, South Carolina would join the growing list of states that have lengthened deadlines or opened revival windows for survivors in the past several years.

Until then, survivors and advocates in South Carolina are watching committee activity closely, since either bill could change dramatically before, or if, it reaches a floor vote.

• Current deadline: age 21, or 3 years from discovery of the injury.
• S.148 proposal: age 59, or 8 years from discovery, plus a 1-year revival window.
• H.5203 proposal: no time limit on claims against a bankrupt institution's estate.
• Status: both bills remain in committee, not yet law.

What Each Bill Would Do

The two bills tackle different parts of the same underlying problem: South Carolina's current deadlines are short compared to many other states.

1. Longer general deadline: S.148 would allow filing up to age 59, well beyond the current age-21 cutoff.
2. Longer discovery period: S.148 extends the discovery-rule window from 3 years to 8 years after realizing the abuse caused injury.
3. One-year revival window: S.148 would let people whose claims already expired refile within a year of the law taking effect.
4. No parental immunity: S.148 removes parental immunity as an automatic defense in these cases.
5. Bankruptcy carve-out: H.5203 removes time limits specifically for claims filed against a bankruptcy estate.
6. No conviction required: H.5203 clarifies that a civil claim does not depend on a criminal conviction first being obtained.

Frequently asked questions

Related