Personal Injury · Statute of Limitations
Injury Lawsuit Deadline in Michigan
How long you have to file a personal-injury lawsuit in Michigan, the statute of limitations, plus when the clock starts, the discovery rule, and the shorter deadlines for suing a government body. Cited to the statute.
How the deadline works in Michigan
When the clock starts, whether a discovery rule can delay it, and the deadlines that differ for particular claims.
| How the clock works | In Michigan | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Standard deadline | 3 years | The general limitations period to file a personal-injury lawsuit. |
| Statute | MCL 600.5805(2); MCL 600.5827 | The controlling statute for the limitations period. Read the full text through the source link below. |
When it starts
The clock runs from when the claim accrues, and MCL 600.5827 fixes accrual at the time the wrong upon which the claim is based was done, regardless of the time when damage results. In practice that means the day of the injury, whether or not you yet knew the full extent of the harm. Filing alone does not preserve a claim either, because the statute is tolled only when the summons and complaint are served within the court rules’ time.
Discovery rule No general rule
No general discovery rule. MCL 600.5827 starts the clock when the wrong was done regardless of when damage results, and the Michigan Supreme Court abolished the judge-made discovery rule in Trentadue v. Buckler (2007), holding that courts cannot create equitable exceptions to a comprehensive statutory scheme. What survives are only the specific statutory exceptions the Legislature wrote, such as the six-month medical-malpractice rule and the two-year fraudulent-concealment rule.
Statute of repose: None
No general statute of repose applies to ordinary negligence. MCL 600.5805(14) makes the limitations periods subject only to the specific repose statutes it names, for medical malpractice, attorney malpractice, and improvements to real property. Outside those, there is no outer cap separate from the three-year clock.
| Deadlines that can differ | Period | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Assault, battery, false imprisonment | 2 years | These intentional torts carry two years under MCL 600.5805(3), shorter than the ordinary negligence period, which catches people out. The period rises to five years where the assault or battery was by a spouse, former spouse, co-parent, household member, or dating partner under MCL 600.5805(4) and (5). |
| Criminal sexual conduct | 10 years | An action for damages from criminal sexual conduct carries ten years under MCL 600.5805(6), and it is not necessary that a criminal prosecution have been brought or resulted in a conviction. This is far longer than the general injury period. |
| Libel or slander | 1 year | Defamation carries one year under MCL 600.5805(11), the shortest period in the section. Malicious prosecution carries two years under MCL 600.5805(7). Do not assume the three-year injury clock applies to a reputation claim. |
| Injured person is a minor or insane | 1 year after disability lifts | Under MCL 600.5851(1), a person who is under 18 or insane when the claim accrues has one year after the disability is removed, even if the ordinary period has run. The disability must exist at accrual, successive disabilities cannot be tacked, and this is narrower than the tolling many states give minors. |
What you can do right now
Concrete, neutral steps if you were injured in Michigan and the clock is running. This is legal information, not legal advice.
- Count three years from the injury itself
Michigan starts the clock the day the wrong was done, not the day you understood the harm. Write down the injury date and treat it as the start. Because there is no general discovery rule, a late realization will usually not move it.
- Do not rely on finding out late to extend your time
Michigan abolished the common-law discovery rule in 2007. Unless a specific statute gives you one, such as the six-month medical-malpractice rule or the two-year fraudulent-concealment rule, the clock ran from the day it happened even for a latent injury. Assume no extension.
- File and serve, not just file
Filing on the last day does not preserve the claim unless the summons and complaint are served within the time the court rules allow. Give yourself margin so a service delay does not lose an otherwise timely case.
- Talk to a Michigan attorney before the deadline
The occurrence-based accrual rule, the shorter periods for intentional torts, and the disability tolling all turn on your facts. A licensed Michigan attorney can confirm your exact deadline. The State Bar of Michigan can refer you to one.
A limitations deadline is easy to miscount, and missing it can end a valid claim. This resource can connect you with a licensed attorney who can confirm your exact deadline.
→ State Bar of MichiganThis is general legal information, not legal advice. Deadlines turn on the specific facts of your case, and exceptions cut both ways, so confirm your date with a licensed attorney before relying on it.
What Michigan injury claimants get wrong
Michigan’s three-year injury deadline looks ordinary, and then its accrual rule makes it unforgiving. Under MCL 600.5827 the clock starts at the time the wrong was done, regardless of when damage results, so the trigger is the day of the injury and not the day you understood it. Michigan courts once softened that with a judge-made discovery rule, but the Michigan Supreme Court abolished it in Trentadue v. Buckler in 2007, holding that courts cannot invent equitable exceptions to a scheme the Legislature made comprehensive. The practical result is that in a latent-injury case, such as an occupational disease or a slowly manifesting condition, a Michigan claim can expire before the injured person had any reason to suspect anything. The discovery rules that do exist are the ones the Legislature wrote by statute, principally six months for medical malpractice and two years for fraudulent concealment. Watch the shorter clocks too: assault and battery run two years, and libel or slander only one. On the merits, Michigan reduces damages for a plaintiff’s own fault rather than barring the claim, but above 50 percent fault the plaintiff loses noneconomic damages entirely. If your injury date is near three years, treat it as firm, because a late discovery will almost never rescue you here.
Common questions
What is the statute of limitations for personal injury in Michigan?
Three years from the injury under MCL 600.5805(2). The clock starts when the wrong was done, not when you discovered the harm, because MCL 600.5827 sets accrual regardless of when damage results.
Does Michigan have a discovery rule for personal injury?
Not a general one. The Michigan Supreme Court abolished the common-law discovery rule in Trentadue v. Buckler (2007), so unless a specific statute grants one, such as the six-month medical-malpractice rule, the clock runs from the day the wrong was done even for an injury you could not have known about.
Why do some sources cite MCL 600.5805(10) for this rule?
That is the old subsection number. MCL 600.5805 was renumbered by 2011 PA 162 effective January 1, 2012, and the three-year injury period is now subsection (2). A citation to (10) is quoting a superseded numbering, not a different rule.
Is the deadline shorter for assault or defamation in Michigan?
What happens if I am partly at fault in Michigan?
Michigan reduces your damages by your share of fault rather than barring the claim. But if your fault is greater than everyone else’s combined, your economic damages are reduced by your percentage and you recover no noneconomic damages at all.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.