Tolling is a legal doctrine

Legal doctrine

A legal doctrine is a framework, set of rules, procedural steps, or test, often established through precedent in the common law, through which judgments can be determined in a given legal case. A doctrine comes about when a judge makes a ruling where a process is outlined and applied, and allows...

 which allows for the pausing or delaying of the running of the period of time set forth by a statute of limitations

Statute of limitations

A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...

. Certain traditional conditions will toll a statute of limitations:

• Plaintiff is a minor
  Minor (law)
  In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
  
  .
• Plaintiff has been deemed insane
  Insanity
  Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
  
  .
• Plaintiff has been convicted of a felony
  Felony
  A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
  
   and is imprisoned; a major component of the AEDPA
  Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
  The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214, is an act of Congress signed into law on April 24, 1996...
  
  .
• Defendant is in bankruptcy
  Bankruptcy
  Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
  
  .
• Filing of an action which is later voluntarily dismissed
  Voluntary dismissal
  Voluntary dismissal is when a lawsuit is terminated by voluntary request of the plaintiff . A voluntary dismissal with prejudice is the modern descendant of the common law procedure known as retraxit.In the United States, voluntary dismissal...
  
  .
• Parties were engaged in good-faith negotiations to resolve the dispute.

The effects of tolling can be curtailed by a statute of repose

Statute of repose

A statute of repose , like a statute of limitation, is a statute that cuts off certain legal rights if they are not acted on by a certain deadline.-Statutes of repose and statutes of limitation:...

, which creates an absolute deadline for filling an action, irrespective of reasons for tolling the statute of limitations.

Many jurisdictions have particular peculiarities with regard to tolling. For example, in the state of Virginia, where a party brings an action, and then declares a nonsuit, the statute of limitations is extended for six months.