People often mix up tolling with an extension, but they are not the same. An extension usually adds more time because a rule or court order says so. Tolling pauses the clock on a legal deadline, then lets it start running again later. In a lawsuit, the deadline being paused is usually the statute of limitations. If 10 months have already run before tolling begins, those 10 months still count; the clock just stops during the tolling period.

That difference matters because filing too late can get a case thrown out even if the injury is serious. Tolling can apply when someone is a minor, is mentally incapacitated, or when the defendant is out of state and cannot be served. In Massachusetts, tolling rules appear in several statutes, including Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260. For example, ch. 260, § 7 allows tolling for minors and people who are incapacitated, and § 9 addresses absence from the Commonwealth in some situations.

For an injury claim, tolling can preserve the right to sue when treatment, recovery, or basic identification of the defendant takes time. But it is not automatic just because someone is hospitalized or still getting care at Mass General or another hospital. A court looks at the specific rule and facts. Getting tolling wrong can mean losing the claim altogether, no matter how strong the evidence of negligence may be.