States With Caps on Wrongful Death Damages

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

Michigan's wrongful death act has no ceiling, but whether the death came from a doctor's error, a defective product or an ordinary accident decides whether a cap applies anyway.

No cap in the act

MCL 600.2922 allows the court or jury to award damages it considers fair and equitable — medical and funeral costs, conscious pain and suffering, lost support, and loss of society and companionship — without a statutory dollar limit.

Caps that follow the cause of death

A death from medical malpractice is subject to the MCL 600.1483 noneconomic limit — $596,400 in 2026, or $1,065,000 if the patient fit a catastrophic category before dying. A death caused by a product defect is subject to the product liability cap, which the statute keeps equal to the malpractice figure, at the higher level because the defect caused death.

One limit for the whole family

The cap covers the total noneconomic loss recoverable by all plaintiffs from the negligence of all defendants. The estate's claim for pre-death suffering and the survivors' claims for loss of society draw on the same ceiling, rather than each getting one.

How other states compare

Maine caps noneconomic wrongful death damages at $1,000,000 adjusted for inflation. Maryland's cap rises every October and grows by half for two or more beneficiaries. Massachusetts, like Michigan, sets no cap in its act. Michigan's distinguishing feature is that the limit depends on the type of defendant rather than on the death itself.

This is general information, not legal advice, and the jurisdiction comparisons above are illustrative, not an exhaustive survey. Confirm the current rule with a licensed attorney.