Personal Injury
Wrongful Death
5 statutes with plain-language summaries, case relevance, source links, and related Michigan practice areas.
Statutory text checked against the Michigan Compiled Laws, complete through PA 16 of 2026, on June 12, 2026.
Wrongful Death
5 statutes"A retail licensee shall not... sell, furnish, or give alcoholic liquor to a minor" and shall not sell, furnish, or give alcoholic liquor to an individual who is visibly intoxicated. The statute includes a 2-year filing period, 120-day notice rule after attorney-client relationship, and a requirement that the minor or alleged intoxicated person be named and retained until trial or settlement.Read Full Statute
Michigan's dramshop statute can allow a claim against a retail liquor licensee that unlawfully sold, furnished, or gave alcohol to a minor or visibly intoxicated person when that unlawful sale was a proximate cause of injury, damage, or death. The statute includes a 2-year filing period, a 120-day written notice rule after an attorney-client relationship begins, and a requirement that the minor or alleged intoxicated person be named and retained in the action until trial or settlement.
If a drunk driver who hit you was recently served by a bar or other retail licensee, the licensee may share liability only if the statutory conditions are met. These cases require fast investigation because notice, proof, naming, and retention requirements are strict.
We investigate all alcohol sales preceding an accident and pursue Dramshop liability where applicable to maximize available insurance coverage.
"All actions and claims survive death. Actions on claims for injuries which result in death shall not be prosecuted after the death of the injured person except pursuant to the next section. If an action is pending at the time of death the claims may be amended to bring it under the next section."Read Full Statute
Michigan law generally provides that actions and claims survive death. But when injuries result in death, those claims must proceed under the wrongful death statute, and a pending injury action may need to be amended to bring it under that statute.
A death after an injury changes the legal path. The estate and personal representative must preserve the surviving claim while also complying with the Wrongful Death Act's procedures.
We move quickly to identify the personal representative, amend pending claims when needed, and preserve both pre-death damages and wrongful-death damages under the correct statute.
"Whenever the death of a person, injuries resulting in death, or death as described in section 2922a shall be caused by wrongful act, neglect, or fault of another... the person who or the corporation that would have been liable, if death had not ensued, shall be liable to an action for damages." The action is brought by the personal representative. Recoverable damages can include reasonable medical, hospital, funeral, and burial expenses; conscious pain and suffering; loss of financial support; and loss of society and companionship.Read Full Statute
Michigan's primary wrongful death law. The lawsuit is filed by the personal representative of the estate, not by each family member separately. Eligible people who may claim damages include the spouse, children, descendants, parents, grandparents, siblings, children of the deceased person's spouse, certain devisees and trust beneficiaries, and intestate heirs if no closer listed family survives.
The foundation of any death case in Michigan. Recoverable damages include medical, hospital, funeral, and burial expenses; conscious pain and suffering before death; loss of financial support and contributions to survivors; and loss of society and companionship. Distribution is based on proven loss, not an automatic equal split.
We have won some of Michigan's largest wrongful death verdicts, including a $5,000,000 verdict in a semi-truck wrongful death case.
"If a person dies before the period of limitations has run or within 30 days after the period of limitations has run, an action that survives by law may be commenced by the personal representative of the deceased person at any time within 2 years after letters of authority are issued although the period of limitations has run." The action may not be commenced later than 3 years after the original limitations period has run.Read Full Statute
Michigan's wrongful death saving provision can give the personal representative extra time to file a surviving claim when the injured person dies before the original limitations period runs, or within 30 days after it runs. The key window is tied to when letters of authority are issued, not simply the date of death, and the statute has an outside deadline.
Protects families in some cases where death occurs near the end of the original limitations period, but it is technical and easy to miscalculate. Probate timing, the first letters of authority in malpractice cases, the underlying claim type, and the 3-year outside cap all matter.
We evaluate this saving provision immediately when death follows an injury, long illness, or delayed complication so probate timing does not destroy an otherwise viable claim.
Michigan medical malpractice noneconomic damages are capped under MCL 600.1483 and adjusted annually by the Michigan Department of Treasury / State Treasurer. For 2026, the standard post-1993 cap is $596,400 and the higher severe permanent-injury cap is $1,065,000. A fatal malpractice case does not qualify for the higher cap by itself; the higher cap applies only to the statutory severe permanent-injury categories. Source: Michigan Treasury 2026 notice dated January 30, 2026.Read Full Statute
When wrongful death results from medical malpractice, noneconomic damages are subject to Michigan's medical malpractice caps. For 2026, the standard post-1993 cap is $596,400 and the higher cap is $1,065,000. A fatal malpractice case does not qualify for the higher cap by itself; the higher cap applies only to the severe permanent-injury categories listed in MCL 600.1483.
This cap can limit noneconomic damages in a medical negligence death case, but economic damages such as medical expenses, funeral expenses, and provable financial support remain uncapped. The 2026 amounts were published by the Michigan Department of Treasury / State Treasurer in the January 30, 2026 notice.
We maximize economic damage projections using forensic economists and life-care planners to overcome noneconomic caps.