The general rule: five years, among the longest nationally
Under RSMo § 516.120(4), most personal injury and property damage claims must be filed within five years from the date of injury. This is genuinely generous by national standards — Missouri's general deadline is longer than all but a couple of other states.
Medical malpractice and wrongful death: shorter, separate rules
Medical malpractice claims generally carry a shorter two-year deadline under § 516.105. Wrongful death claims carry their own separate three-year deadline, running from the date of death rather than the date of any earlier underlying injury.
A currently pending effort to cut this to two years
Missouri lawmakers have repeatedly pushed to shorten the general five-year deadline to just two years, most recently in the 2026 legislative session. As of today, this change has not become law, and the five-year deadline remains in effect — but it's genuinely worth watching if your injury is recent. See our guide to what happens if you miss the deadline for more on this.
Minors: a genuinely distinctive split between general claims and malpractice
Missouri's tolling rules for minors differ sharply depending on the type of claim — a detail that has been directly litigated and confirmed in Missouri courts. See our full guide to Missouri's discovery rule and tolling for exactly how this split works.