Georgia and New Hampshire

Georgia vs New Hampshire Personal Injury Law: A Comprehensive Comparison

7 min read

  • 9 rules side by side
  • 9 sections

New Hampshire allows no punitive damages unless a statute provides for them. It also lets an injured person recover at 50 percent fault, which Georgia does not, gives three years to sue, makes a defendant 50 percent or more at fault answer for the whole award, and caps two items in death cases: $500,000 for a surviving spouse’s loss of companionship and $300,000 per child or parent for loss of the family relationship.

Which state’s law applies

A Georgia court applies the law of the state where the injury happened. In Dowis v. Mud Slingers, Inc. (2005), the Supreme Court of Georgia held that “a tort action is governed by the substantive law of the state where the tort was committed.” A New Hampshire injury sued in Georgia is therefore decided under New Hampshire rules on fault and damages. Deadlines follow a different rule. In Harvey v. Merchan (2021), the Supreme Court of Georgia said that “[s]tatutes of limitations are generally procedural in nature, and therefore those of the forum state govern”, so a suit filed in Georgia generally runs on Georgia’s two years, not New Hampshire’s three. The exception is a foreign statute that “creates a cause of action that is not recognized in the common law and includes a specific limitation period”: that period governs when it is shorter than Georgia’s. Whether a Georgia court can hear the case at all, which depends on jurisdiction over the defendant and on venue, is a separate question that these rules do not answer. A New Hampshire court applies its own choice-of-law rules, which should be checked before filing there.

Side by side

Topic Georgia New Hampshire
Injured person's own fault Recovery reduced; barred at 50% or more (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33) Recovery reduced; barred only if the plaintiff's fault is greater than the defendant's or the defendants' in the aggregate (RSA 507:7-d)
Defendants sharing fault Each pays only its own share, apart from concerted action (§ 51-12-33(b)) Joint and several liability, except that a party less than 50% at fault is liable only for its own share; an uncollectible share can be reallocated (RSA 507:7-e)
General injury deadline 2 years (§ 9-3-33) 3 years from the act or omission, or from discovery when the injury could not reasonably have been discovered (RSA 508:4)
Wrongful death deadline 2 years from death (§ 9-3-33) Within 6 years after the death, "subject to the provisions of RSA 508" (RSA 556:11)
Punitive damages Allowed; $250,000 cap with exceptions (§ 51-12-5.1) Not allowed unless a statute provides for them (RSA 507:16)
Noneconomic damages cap None None in force: a malpractice cap and a general $875,000 cap were struck down (Carson v. Maurer, 1980; Brannigan v. Usitalo, 1991)
Wrongful death caps None Spouse's loss of comfort, society, and companionship: $500,000; loss of familial relationship: $300,000 per claimant (RSA 556:12, effective January 1, 2025)
Claims against the State Notice within 12 months; $1 million / $3 million cap (§§ 50-21-26, 50-21-29) Written notice within 180 days; suit within 3 years; $475,000 per claimant and $3,750,000 per incident, or insurance proceeds if greater (RSA 541-B:14)
Claims against towns, cities, counties City notice 6 months; county 12 months (§§ 36-33-5, 36-11-1) $325,000 per person and $1,000,000 per incident; no punitive damages (RSA 507-B:4)

New Hampshire car insurance requirements, dog bite liability, alcohol seller liability, the treatment of insurance and other collateral payments, notice rules for claims against towns and cities, and expert witness rules for malpractice are not compared here; a claim against a town or city in particular should be checked against the New Hampshire statutes for its notice rule before filing.

Fault: recovery at 50 percent, and joint liability above it

“Contributory fault shall not bar recovery … if such fault was not greater than the fault of the defendant, or the defendants in the aggregate if recovery is allowed against more than one defendant, but the damages awarded shall be diminished in proportion to the amount of fault attributed to the plaintiff” (RSA 507:7-d).

Injured person's fault, $100,000 found Georgia New Hampshire
40% $60,000 $60,000
50% $0 $50,000
51% $0 $0

The court enters judgment “on the basis of the rules of joint and several liability, except that if any party shall be less than 50 percent at fault, then that party’s liability shall be several and not joint” (RSA 507:7-e, I(b)). Parties who “knowingly pursued or taken active part in a common plan or design resulting in the harm” are jointly liable regardless of percentage (RSA 507:7-e, I(c)). On a motion filed within 60 days after final judgment, the court reallocates an uncollectible share among the other defendants (RSA 507:7-e, III).

$100,000 found; injured person not at fault; defendant A 70%, defendant B 30% Georgia New Hampshire
A can be made to pay $70,000 $100,000
B can be made to pay $30,000 $30,000, plus any reallocated share

Deadlines

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”, the three years run from discovery (RSA 508:4, I).

For a death, RSA 556:11 allows an action “at any time within 6 years after the death of the deceased party, subject to the provisions of RSA 508”. How the six-year rule and the three-year rule in RSA 508:4 combine for a particular death should be confirmed with New Hampshire counsel before relying on either period.

No punitive damages, and no general caps

“No punitive damages shall be awarded in any action, unless otherwise provided by statute” (RSA 507:16). Georgia allows punitive damages on clear and convincing evidence, capped at $250,000 except in product liability, specific-intent, and impairment cases (§ 51-12-5.1).

New Hampshire’s Supreme Court has struck down two caps on noneconomic damages. In Carson v. Maurer (1980), it held provisions of the medical malpractice act unconstitutional, found that “the valid provisions of RSA ch. 507-C are not separable from the remainder of the statute”, and declared “the chapter void”. In Brannigan v. Usitalo (1991), it applied Carson to a general $875,000 cap and held: “RSA 508:4-d (Supp. 1990) is hereby declared unconstitutional.”

Wrongful death: two capped items

In a death case brought by the administrator, the decedent’s “mental and physical pain”, the estate’s expenses, the probable duration of life, and earning capacity may be considered “in the same manner as if the deceased had survived” (RSA 556:12, I). In addition:

  1. A surviving spouse may recover for “the loss of the comfort, society, and companionship of the deceased”, but “in no event shall damages awarded under this paragraph exceed $500,000” (RSA 556:12, II).
  2. Minor children of a deceased parent, and parents of a deceased minor child, may recover for “loss of familial relationship”, not to “exceed $300,000 per individual claimant” (RSA 556:12, III).

Both items are reduced under the comparative fault statute when the decedent’s or the claimant’s fault contributed. These are the limits of the version effective January 1, 2025; the earlier version capped them at $150,000 and $50,000. Georgia measures the death claim by the full value of the life of the decedent, without a cap (§ 51-4-2).

Claims against government

Claims against a state agency arising from one incident are limited to “$475,000 per claimant and $3,750,000 per any single incident, or the proceeds from any insurance policy procured pursuant to RSA 9:27, whichever amount is greater”, and “no claim for punitive damages may be awarded” (RSA 541-B:14, I). Both dollar limits apply together. The claim “shall be brought within 3 years” of the injury, and “the agency shall be provided written notice within 180 days after the time of the injury or damage as to the date, time, and location the injury or damage occurred”; lack of notice bars the claim only if the agency shows substantial prejudice (RSA 541-B:14, IV).

The liability of a town, city, county, or other governmental unit “sustained by any one person … is limited to $325,000”, and for any number of persons in one incident “is limited to $1,000,000”; “[t]he court shall award no punitive damages against a governmental unit”, and the jury is not told of the limits (RSA 507-B:4).

Georgia’s notices run six months for a city and 12 months for a county or the State, and the State’s cap is $1 million per person and $3 million per occurrence (§§ 36-33-5, 36-11-1, 50-21-26, 50-21-29).

Dates and documents to pin down

  1. Where the injury happened, which sets the governing law in a Georgia court, and where the suit will be filed, which generally sets the deadline.
  2. For a claim against a New Hampshire state agency, the date 180 days after the injury, for the written notice.
  3. Each defendant’s likely share of fault, because a New Hampshire defendant at 50 percent or more can be made to pay the whole award.
  4. For a death claim, the date of death and the family members who may claim, because the spouse and familial relationship items have separate caps.
  5. For an injury discovered late, the date it and its cause were discovered.

How Georgia’s own rules work is explained in the Georgia personal injury law guide. Another state that allows recovery at 50 percent fault and reallocates uncollectible shares is compared in how Connecticut’s fault rule compares with Georgia’s.

Sources

General information about Georgia and New Hampshire law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.