extinctive prescription:

Loss of a right by its holder as a result of prolonged inaction. Prescription periods (statutes of limitations) vary from six months to thirty years but the most common is a period of ten years (decennial prescription). An example of extinctive prescription: when person A lends person B money, person A becomes person B's creditor. If A is not paid back at the end of the credit term and does not begin court proceedings to this end within the ten years that follow, the debtor will be released of his obligations, person A having lost his right to claim or the action that accompanies such right.