The 10-year limitation period (den 10-årige frist)
Also known as 10-year limitation, the long period, limitation of a judgment
The 10-year period applies once the claim has been established by judgment, settlement or promissory note — then ten years run instead of three.
- Length
- 10 years
- Applies once
- The claim is established
- Legal basis
- Forældelsesloven § 5 (the Danish Limitation Act)
In practice
An ordinary monetary claim becomes time-barred after three years. But once you have the claim established — by judgment, by a court settlement, or by a promissory note the debtor has signed — the claim changes character. From that moment ten years run.
That is the strongest reason to get the claim down on paper, even when the debtor cannot pay now. Ten years is a long time, and a debtor with no ability to pay today may have it in five.
The period can be interrupted along the way just like the three-year one, and then ten new years begin.
Where it commonly goes wrong
- Assuming the judgment lasts forever. Ten years is long, but it is not unlimited. A judgment left untouched for ten years and a day is as lost as a claim that never reached court.
- Confusing it with the three-year period. If the claim has not been established, it does not help that it is large or well documented. Then it is three years.