$12,000 in funeral and burial costs can arrive before a family even knows the clock is running. Example: a rideshare passenger dies after a summer blowout crash outside Helena on I-15. The family spends weeks dealing with Saint Peter's Health records, the death certificate, and insurance calls about whether the driver, another tourist vehicle, or the rideshare company is responsible. In Montana, the civil deadline usually does not wait for that sorting-out process.

The basic rule is 3 years. In Montana, a wrongful-death claim based on negligence is generally filed within 3 years from the date of death under MCA 27-2-204.

Who can file depends on the claim type.

A wrongful death claim is for the benefit of the heirs and may be brought by the personal representative or the heirs under MCA 27-1-513.

A survival action is different. That is the claim the deceased person could have brought if they had lived - such as pre-death pain, medical bills, and lost earnings before death. In Montana, that claim belongs to the estate and is typically brought by the personal representative under MCA 27-1-501.

What can be recovered usually splits this way:

• Estate / survival claim: pre-death medical expenses, pre-death lost wages, conscious pain and suffering before death
• Wrongful death / heirs' claim: funeral and burial expenses, loss of financial support, loss of care and companionship, and a spouse's loss of consortium

If the death involved a rideshare trip, there may be multiple insurance policies in play, but that does not extend Montana's filing deadline.

If no estate has been opened yet, that delay can matter because the personal representative is the person who usually handles the survival claim. In a Helena case, probate and related filings are handled through the Lewis and Clark County District Court.