Montana · Updated
Injured in Montana: deadlines, rules and lawyers
Most of what to do after an injury is the same everywhere. The deadline to file, and a few other rules, are set by each state. Here are Montana’s, each with the law it comes from. This is general information, not advice about your case.
We don’t list firms in Montana yet. You can still check how to look up a lawyer’s license.
Know this first
Step 1: Three years to file in court
3 yearsfor most injury lawsuits
In Montana, most injury lawsuits must be filed in court within three years1.
When the clock starts, and whether an exception applies, can depend on the facts. A lawyer can tell you your exact date.
The law, as written
Personal injury3 years
In Montana, an action on a liability not founded on an instrument in writing, which includes a negligence claim for personal injury, must be commenced within 3 years1.
More detail
Montana sets 2 years for libel, slander, assault, battery, false imprisonment and seduction1, and separate periods for childhood sexual abuse and the claims listed in § 27-2-2191. The current wording of § 27-2-204 took effect October 1, 2026 (amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 709, L. 2025)1.
Medical malpractice in Montana runs 2 years from injury or discovery, whichever is later, and no action may be commenced more than 5 years after the date of injury2. Special rules apply to minors injured before age 42.
If a family member died
Step 2: If someone died
A claim for a death can have its own deadline, and it may start on a different day. Here is the rule as the research found it.
The law, as written
Wrongful death3 years
In Montana, a wrongful-death action must be commenced within 3 years, or within 10 years when the death is the result of a homicide1.
If a government body was involved
Step 3: Claims against the state or a local government
If a government vehicle, government property or a public employee was part of what happened, a shorter notice or claim step may come first. Ask a lawyer about it early.
The law, as written
Claims against the State of MontanaPresent to Dept. of Administration first
In Montana, a claim against the state arising under Title 2, chapter 9, parts 1 through 3 must be presented in writing to the department of administration3, and a complaint may not be filed until the department has finally denied it3. The department must grant or deny the claim within 120 days, a failure to decide within 120 days counts as a final denial, and the limitations period is tolled for 120 days from the department's receipt of the claim3.
Claims against counties, cities and other political subdivisions
In Montana, claims against a political subdivision must be presented to and filed with the clerk or secretary of that political subdivision3; subsection (3) contains no 120-day tolling provision. An action on a claim rejected by the county commissioners must be commenced within 6 months after the first rejection4.
How fault is counted
Step 4: If you were partly at fault
51% bar
In Montana, if you are found more than 50% at fault, you generally can’t recover. If not, what you get is cut by your share5.
The law, as written
Bar to recovery51% bar
In Montana, contributory negligence does not bar recovery “if the contributory negligence was not greater than the negligence of the person or the combined negligence of all persons against whom recovery is sought”5. A claimant who is more negligent than the defendants combined recovers nothing.
If they were a minor
Step 5: If the injured person is a child
The clock can run differently for a child’s claim.
The law, as written
MinorsTolled during minority
In Montana, if the person entitled to sue is a minor when the cause of action accrues, “the time of the disability is not a part of the time limit for commencing the action”6. The disability must exist when the right of action accrues6.
More detail
Medical malpractice claims for children injured under age 4 follow § 27-2-205(2) instead2.
Next
Step 6: What to do with this
- Write down the datesThe day you were hurt, the day treatment ended, and anything a government body or hospital sent you.
- Ask a lawyer about your factsThese rules have exceptions that depend on details. A lawyer licensed in Montana can tell you which ones apply.
- Ask each firmWhich deadline applies to me, does a notice need to go out, and by when?
How to check a lawyer’s license in Montana
Each state keeps a public list of lawyers. Before you hire anyone, look the lawyer up by name and read what the listing says about their license. If it isn’t clear, call the office that keeps the list.
Case types
Each case type’s page has Montana’s deadline and rules for it.
More about deadlines
- What to do after a car accident: learn your deadline
Plain steps after a crash: stay safe, get care, keep a record, talk to insurance companies carefully, and learn your state’s deadline to file.
- After a truck accident: your deadline to file still applies
How a crash with a big commercial truck differs from a car crash: federal safety rules, more than one company involved, larger insurance, and records that are only kept for a while.
- After a motorcycle or bike crash: your deadline to file
What’s different when you were on a motorcycle or a bicycle: keeping your helmet and gear, your rights on the road, helmet rules, fault, road hazards and insurance.
- Hit by a car while walking: your deadline to file
What to do if a car hit you while you were walking: first steps, the evidence that disappears fastest, whose insurance may pay, how fault gets argued, and your deadlines.
- After a slip and fall: your deadline to file
What to do after you fall on someone else’s property: get care, report it, keep a record, and learn the questions that decide a premises case, including falls on public property and at work.
- Wrongful death basics: the deadline often starts at the death
If someone in your family died because of another person’s carelessness: what a wrongful-death claim is, who can bring it, how it differs from a survival claim, getting records, and the deadline.
- Hurt at work: your deadlines
What to do after an injury on the job: get care, tell your employer in writing, and learn how workers’ compensation works and when a separate injury claim against someone else may exist.
- After a dog bite: your deadline to file
What to do after a dog bites you or your child: get care, find out who owns the dog, keep a record, and learn how state rules on dog bites differ.
- After a head or brain injury: deadlines keep running while you recover
What to do after a head injury from a crash, a fall or another accident: get checked, keep a record of how you feel, get help from family, and why legal deadlines keep running while you recover.
- When medical care goes wrong: deadlines are often different, and strict
What to do if you think a doctor, hospital or clinic hurt you: get care, get your records, and learn the extra steps and short deadlines that medical-malpractice claims often have, state by state.
- Deadlines in every state
The usual deadline in all 50 states and DC, side by side. Where we haven’t checked one yet, we say so.
How we list firms
How we list firms
We don’t rank firms. Listing is free and doesn’t depend on buying anything.
Firms are listed for free, in A–Z order. Every fact shows its source and date. We don’t recommend lawyers, and we don’t pass on your details.
Sources
Where the legal facts on this page come from
- Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-204Read the source: Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-204
- Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-205Read the source: Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-205
- Mont. Code Ann. § 2-9-301Read the source: Mont. Code Ann. § 2-9-301
- Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-209Read the source: Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-209
- Mont. Code Ann. § 27-1-702Read the source: Mont. Code Ann. § 27-1-702
- Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-401Read the source: Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-401
This is general information, not legal advice.