Michigan Sexual Abuse Settlement Calculator

Michigan uses two separate statutes of limitations depending on the victim's age at the time of the abuse. For abuse suffered as a minor, MCL 600.5851b gives an individual until whichever is later: age 28, or 3 years after discovering both the injury and its causal link to the abuse. This exists alongside the general minority-tolling statute, MCL 600.5851, which sets a separate age-19 deadline — §5851b is an additional, later-expiring option, not a replacement. For abuse suffered as an adult, MCL 600.5805(6) allows 10 years to bring a civil action for damages from criminal sexual conduct, and no criminal conviction is required.

Michigan also created a single revival window tied to the 2018 enactment of MCL 600.5851b. It was open for only 90 days after the law's effective date (June 12, 2018) and applied only to individuals abused as minors after December 31, 1996. Even within that window, a claim qualified only if the alleged perpetrator was convicted under MCL 750.520b and had made a specific admission tied to a position of authority or a medical-treatment context — a narrow set of conditions sometimes referred to as the 'Nassar clause.' This window closed around September 2018 and has not been reopened.

The Michigan Supreme Court addressed retroactivity directly in McLain v Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing, 514 Mich 1 (2024), holding that the MCL 600.5851b(1)(b) discovery rule 'does not apply retroactively to revive limitations periods that have already expired.' In practice, this means the age-28/discovery extension only helps claims that were still active — not yet time-barred — when the statute took effect in 2018. If your claim had already expired before 2018, this statute does not bring it back.

Childhood sexual abuse (under 18 at the time): Under MCL 600.5851b(1), an individual who was a minor at the time of the criminal sexual conduct may file until whichever is later: (a) reaching age 28, or (b) 3 years after discovering, or reasonably should have discovered, both the injury and its causal link to the abuse. This provision does not apply retroactively to claims that were already time-barred before its 2018 enactment. Separately, the general minority-tolling statute, MCL 600.5851, sets an age-19 deadline that remains available as an alternative — §5851b does not eliminate it.

Adult sexual assault (18+ at the time): MCL 600.5805(6) sets a dedicated 10-year period for a civil action to recover damages from criminal sexual conduct (Michigan's statutory term covering offenses under MCL 750.520b–520g). No criminal prosecution or conviction is required. This provision, enacted by 2018 PA 183 and effective June 12, 2018, replaced the former general 3-year personal-injury period for this category of claim and applies without an age restriction — a minor victim may still additionally rely on the more generous age-28/discovery rule above.