Medical malpractice: a "later of" discovery rule
Under RCW 4.16.350(3), a medical malpractice claim must generally be filed by the later of three years from the date of the malpractice, or one year from when the injury was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered. Using "the later of" rather than a single fixed window gives a plaintiff whichever of the two dates falls further out.
A genuinely narrow test for absence-based tolling
Washington's statute of limitations can be tolled when a defendant leaves the state or goes into hiding — but a real, specific 1969 Washington Supreme Court ruling narrowed this considerably. The court held that absence from Washington, or hiding within the state, only tolls the statute of limitations when that absence or concealment actually prevents the plaintiff from serving the defendant with the lawsuit. Simply being physically outside the state isn't automatically enough on its own.
Why this narrow test genuinely matters
A defendant can be physically absent from Washington and still be properly served through other lawful means — a process server reaching them out of state, for example, or substitute service through a registered agent. Because the tolling only applies when absence or hiding actually blocks service, a plaintiff can't automatically assume the clock pauses just because a defendant happens to live elsewhere.
The ordinary minor and disability tolling rule
Beyond this narrower absence-based rule, Washington generally tolls the statute of limitations under RCW 4.16.190 when a person who is legally disabled, including a minor, suffers an injury — pausing the clock until that disability ends.