Statute of Limitations for Tolling for Absence from State in Michigan

7 min read

Published April 8, 2026 • By DocketMath Team

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change frequently — verify all citations with current official sources.

Overview

Michigan’s general statute of limitations period is 6 years, and the default citation provided for this page is MCL § 767.24(1). For a reference-page summary, that means a claim filed after 6 years is generally time-barred unless a recognized tolling rule or exception applies.

For people searching about tolling for absence from the state in Michigan, the practical question is simple: does a defendant’s time outside Michigan extend the filing deadline? In Michigan, the answer depends on the governing claim, the applicable statute, and whether an exception actually suspends the running of time. This page gives a general reference point, not legal advice.

Note: DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator is built to help you work from the filing date backward, test deadline scenarios, and see how tolling inputs can change the result.

Use the calculator to compare:

the base 6-year deadline,
a filing date,
and any period that may be excluded from the count.

Limitation period

Michigan’s general limitation period listed here is 6 years. The default period applies unless a more specific statute controls the claim.

That 6-year clock is the starting point for most deadline calculations on this reference page. In practice, the key inputs are:

Accrual date: when the claim began to run
Filing date: when the complaint or petition was filed
Tolling period: any time excluded from the count
Jurisdictional rule: Michigan law governing the deadline

A quick reference table helps show how the calculation works.

Input	What it means	Effect on deadline
Accrual date	The date the claim starts	Starts the 6-year period
Filing date	The date the case is filed	Must fall on or before the deadline
Tolling period	Time excluded from the running clock	Extends the deadline by the excluded time
No tolling	No excluded time applies	Deadline stays at 6 years

If there is no claim-type-specific sub-rule, the general/default period is the one to use for a first-pass calculation. That is the rule this page is using.

Common user workflow:

Identify the claim’s accrual date.
Count forward 6 years.
Subtract or add any time that a tolling rule excludes.
Compare the result to the filing date.

For example, if a claim accrued on March 1, 2020, the plain 6-year deadline would fall on March 1, 2026. If a valid tolling period excluded 90 days, the deadline would move to May 30, 2026. The exact result turns on the actual rule and the dates you enter.

Key exceptions

Tolling can change a Michigan deadline, but only when a statute or recognized rule actually applies. The absence of a party from the state is one of the fact patterns people often ask about, because time outside the state can affect whether the clock runs.

In a practical deadline workflow, “absence from state” matters in three ways:

It may pause the running of the limitations period.
It may delay service or notice, which can affect timing analysis.
It may be irrelevant if another rule governs the claim or if the statute does not toll for that category of case.

Here is the useful way to think about it:

Question	Why it matters
Was the defendant actually absent from Michigan?	Tolling usually depends on a real period of absence
Did the absence occur during the running of the limitations period?	Only time inside the limitations period can be affected
Does a specific statute control the claim?	A specific rule can override a general rule
Was the claim filed before the deadline even without tolling?	If yes, tolling may not matter at all

A few practical points:

Absence alone is not a universal reset button. Deadline rules are claim-specific.
The clock and the calendar are not the same thing. A tolling rule can exclude days, but only if the rule fits the facts.
Service issues are separate from filing deadlines. A timely filing can still create later procedural problems, but the statute-of-limitations question is about the filing deadline itself.

Pitfall: Do not assume that any time a defendant is out of state automatically extends every Michigan deadline. The correct calculation depends on the actual statute governing the claim and the exact dates of absence.

When you use DocketMath, the most helpful approach is to enter:

the accrual date,
the filing date,
the number of days the party was absent from Michigan,
and any known statutory exception.

That lets you test whether the absence meaningfully changes the deadline or whether the claim was already timely under the base 6-year period.

Statute citation

The jurisdiction data provided for this page cites MCL § 767.24(1) and a 6-year general period. That is the citation and default period to use for this reference-page summary.

For citation purposes, the core reference is:

**MCL § 767.24(1)

And the general/default period provided is:

6 years

A citation table makes the reference easier to scan.

Item	Citation / period
General statute	MCL § 767.24(1)
General limitation period	6 years
Source	Michigan government source

If you are checking a deadline by hand, use the citation first, then confirm whether a more specific limitation provision applies to the exact claim type. Where no claim-type-specific sub-rule is provided, the general/default period is the baseline.

Use the calculator

DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator helps you test the 6-year Michigan deadline against real dates and tolling periods. It is designed for fast deadline checks, not guesswork.

Use it when you want to answer questions like:

When does the 6-year period end?
Does absence from Michigan change the deadline?
How many days remain if filing happens on a certain date?
Is the case timely under the general rule?

What to enter

Check the inputs before you calculate:

How the output changes

The calculator adjusts the deadline based on the inputs you provide.

Scenario	Calculator result
No tolling entered	Uses the straight 6-year period
Days of absence entered	Extends the deadline by excluded days, if applicable
Earlier filing date	Shows the case as timely sooner
Later filing date	May show the case as late if the deadline passed

You can open the tool here: /tools/statute-of-limitations

For a fuller comparison, use the calculator to run more than one scenario:

Base deadline only.
Deadline with absence-from-state tolling.
Deadline with any additional exclusion period.
Filing date against each result.

That workflow makes it easier to see whether a claim is timely under the general Michigan rule or whether the facts push it into a closer deadline analysis.