Georgia CommonsHouse · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 1160: Civil practice; tolling of limitations; provide for surviving relatives in wrongful death actions
Last action February 19, 2026 · House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
A Georgia House bill would extend a legal pause on the filing deadline for wrongful death lawsuits, allowing surviving relatives of crime victims to wait until a related criminal case is resolved before their filing clock resumes.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Comm Sub version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Georgia law currently pauses, or 'tolls,' the deadline for a crime victim to file a civil lawsuit related to that crime while the criminal prosecution is ongoing, so the victim does not lose their right to sue while the criminal case plays out. This bill extends that same pause to wrongful death lawsuits filed by a victim's surviving relatives or estate. The bill amends O.C.G.A. § 9-3-99 so that the filing deadline for wrongful death claims brought under Georgia's wrongful death statutes (O.C.G.A. §§ 19-7-1, 51-4-2, and 51-4-4) is also paused from the date of the crime until the criminal prosecution becomes final or otherwise ends. As under current law, the pause cannot last longer than six years, with an exception already written into O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33.1. The bill repeals any conflicting laws.
What the bill does
- Extends the existing pause on lawsuit deadlines for crime victims to also cover wrongful death claims brought by surviving relatives or an estate.
- Applies the pause specifically to wrongful death claims filed under O.C.G.A. §§ 19-7-1(c), 51-4-2, and 51-4-4.
- Keeps the same six-year cap on how long the deadline can be paused, except where O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33.1 already provides otherwise.
- Ties the length of the pause to when the related criminal prosecution becomes final or otherwise ends.
Who it affects
Surviving spouses, children, and other relatives (or the estate) of someone killed as the result of an alleged crime, as well as criminal defendants facing related civil wrongful death suits, and Georgia courts handling wrongful death litigation.
Why it matters
Families of crime victims who die from the crime would get more time to file a wrongful death lawsuit while the criminal case is still pending, preventing the civil filing deadline from expiring before the criminal prosecution concludes.
Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 9-3-99 to add wrongful death claims under O.C.G.A. § 19-7-1(c) and §§ 51-4-2 and 51-4-4 to the list of claims eligible for tolling.
- The pause runs from the date of the alleged crime until the related prosecution becomes final or is otherwise terminated.
- The tolling period cannot exceed six years, except as otherwise allowed under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33.1.
- Section 2 repeals any existing laws that conflict with this change.
From the bill
“The running of the period of limitations with respect to any cause of action in tort that may be brought by the victim of an alleged crime or that may be brought under subsection (c) of Code Section 19-7-1 or Code Section 51-4-2 or 51-4-4 for the wrongful death of the victim of an alleged crime”
Discussed in meetings (5)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House Judiciary Committee, February 18, 2026
From 1:27:45 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor presented a substitute and said the bill would pause the filing deadline for surviving relatives’ wrongful death claims while criminal proceedings were pending, matching the protection available to crime victims bringing their own civil claims. A member asked whether a reference to a broader family-law provision should instead identify the subsection concerning a child’s homicide. The sponsor agreed. Members revised the wording to use the proper legal citation format, and the sponsor confirmed that the change preserved the bill’s purpose. The committee adopted the amendment and approved the amended bill by voice votes, with no opposition heard.
House Rules Committee, February 23, 2026
From 0:51:14 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1160 would pause the deadline for surviving relatives to bring wrongful-death lawsuits while a related criminal case is pending. The sponsor said crime victims already receive a pause in the usual two-year deadline, but relatives bringing wrongful-death claims do not, even though both may be unable to obtain key evidence during the criminal case. There were no questions.
Status timeline
- House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Omari Crawford (D, HD-89)
- Tyler Paul Smith (R, HD-18)
- Stacey Evans (D, HD-57)
- Soo Hong (R, HD-103)
- Trey Kelley (R, HD-16)
- Martin Momtahan (R, HD-17)
Topics
- wrongful death lawsuits
- statute of limitations
- crime victims
- civil lawsuits
- Georgia courts